L4 - interpreting anthropometric data

What is sensitivity?

how good a measurement/test is at correctly identifying people who have the disease

What does having a higher waist circumference do if you are already overweight?

increase risk of disease even further

What are the waist circumference cutoffs for lower risk and high risk of disease when associated with BMI?

lower risk - men: 94-102cm, women: 80-88cm, higher risk - men: >102cm, women: >88cm

What is the growth indices head circumference?

measures from the most prominent part at the back of the head to above the eyebrows when head is in the frankfort plane, used to identify chronic protein energy deficiency or low brain development in children under 2 years (this is when their skull solidifies)

What are wasting and stunting?

wasting is having insufficient weight for age, can be resolved quickly and stunting is an indicator of an extended period of inadequate food/nutrients that permanently affects height

What is weight for age growth indices and a limitation?

used to assess under or overnutrition, but cannot distinguish tall thin children who are underweight from short children with adequate weight so if rates of stunting are high but rates of wasting are low then undernutrition is being underestimated

What is the length growth indices?

children under 85cm are measured on a calibrated length board without shoes and nappy

What is the weight for height growth indices and a limitation?

in low income countries used to identify children who are most likely to benefit from feeding programmes e.g. wasting children, in high income countries used to growth faltering in kids or wasting in hospital patients especially the elderly, however weight may appear normal for height if stunting or have oedema so need to use weight for age too

What is the height for age growth indices and a limitation?

an index of past nutritional status and can identify stunting, but can’t identify wasted children would need to use weight for height

What is reference data used for?

international comparisons, evaluation of trends over time and the effectiveness of interventions and in clinical settings is used to monitor growth, and identify under or overnutrition

What si the difference between growth reference and growth standard?

growth reference shoes the growth pattern of a healthy population (how children actually grow) and growth standard shows the recommended pattern of growth for specific health outcomes and reduced risk of disease (how children should grow)

What is the WHO child growth standard?

population was obtained from multiple countries around the world with non-smoking mothers and single births, and no known constraints on growth, mothers predominantly BF fro 4 months and continued until 12, CF were introduced by 6 months and between 18-71 months some BF occurred and the researchers found that despite being from different countries around the world the children <5yrs had similar growth patterns.

Why is the WHO child growth standard important?

EBF babies grow differently to formula babies, more rapidly for the first 2-3 months and then slow which concerns some mothers and they stop BF

What measures can reference data be used to generate?

percentiles and z-scores

What are percentiles?

use din high income countries, identifies position in relation to other measurements of the reference population

What are z-scores?

used in both high and especially low income countries, tell how many SD an individual is from the mean

How is z-score calculated?

(persons measurement-reference mean)/reference SD, z-score=0 is at the mean, =+1 is one SD above the reference mean and =-1 is one SD below the reference mean