Anthropometric assessment of nutritional status of children attending child welfare clinics in Trinidad and Tobago - abstract

ABSTRACT

This study was done to ascertain the validity of the conclusion that, on the basis of weight for age, between 20 per cent and 30 per cent of children attending Child Welfare Clinics (CWCs) in 1985 were undernourished. Further, this study sought to demonstrate the need to obtain length/height measurements to adequately assess nutritional status of children. Anthropometric data collected by the staff of the 8 CWCs during 1986 were sampled according to criteria suggested by the Caribbean Food and Nutrition Institute, Jamaica. In addition, weight and height were measured in a similar sample of children attending the same 8 CWCs and 1 additional CWC in Tobago during 1988. All data were analysed using the Centers for Disease Control Anthropometric Software Package, version 3.0, on an IBM PC. Analysis of the 1986 data showed prevalence of undernutrition, on a weight for age basis, was > 20 per cent in only 2 of the 8 CWCs and ranged from 6.5 per cent to 25.0 per cent in the others with an overall prevalence of 12.7 per cent and > 20 per cent in the same 2 CWCs. When the 1988 data were analysed, using weight and height to assess nutritional status, the overall prevalence of undernutrition in the 9 CWCs was 3.0 per cent (range 0-6.7). The prevalence of stunting ( < 90 per cent of median in reference population) ranged from 0 per cent to 3.9 per cent with a mean of 1.8 per cent. None of the infants < 6 months of age in 6 to 9 CWCs was undernourished (weight/age) and no infant was undernourished (weight/height) under 1 year of age. Children attending CWCs are not representative of the country's under 5-year age group being over-represented in the 0-11-month and under-represented in the 24-59-month age groups (AU)