Use of height-arm circumference measurement for nutritional selectivity in Sri Lanka school feeding.
In order to maximize the impact of limited resources available for the government of Sri Lanka/CARE school feeding program, a nutrition survey was carried out in 1973 using the measurements of arm circumference for height of 1,122,773 school children aged 6-12 years. The results of the survey provided a score of the incidence of malnutrition in each government primary school and schools with the highest percentage of malnutrition were selected as eligible for the feeding program. The height-arm circumference technique as found to be a valid tool for diagnosing malnutrition when compared with either weight-height-age or clinical assessment. This technique requiring only measuring tapes, was found to be rapid, economical, and highly practical for field situations as a device for nutritional selectivity. The survey findings revealed that 40 per cent of the primary school population were malnourished.
D000367:Age Factors; D000886:Anthropometry; D001132:Arm / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D001835:Body Weight; D002648:Child; D002664:Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D004045:Dietary Services / Q000592:standards*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D009748:Nutrition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D012574:Schools; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013188:Sri Lanka