Nutritional anthropometry. Wasting assessment by direct reading on a modified weight-for-height scale.
Wasting, a low weight-for-height compared with a standard, is the most important index of acute under nutrition. Previously, wasted children could only be classified by consulting tables after weighing and measuring them. This was not a practical procedure for busy service situations. Nabarro introduced a weight chart which simplified the identification of wasted children, but this method has limitations. An available clock-faced spring balance weighing scale has been modified to give direct colour-coded reading of weight-for-height status. A child's height is first measured while he is fully co-operative. The height in cm is set on the scale and this positions a colour coded disc behind the spiral slot. Then the child is weighed, and in wasted children the pointer comes to rest opposite a red band. The instrument has been field tested in busy clinics in Uganda and worked well.
D000886:Anthropometry / Q000295:instrumentation*; D001827:Body Height; D001835:Body Weight; D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D009748:Nutrition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*