title: Precision of anthropometric measurements: the value of mid-arm circumference.
abstract: A study was carried out to examine how reproducible anthropometric measurements were within and between two observers on a group of 24 normal subjects and 20 obese individuals. A further study was performed on 28 malnourished patients with Crohn's disease undergoing a controlled trial of nutritional therapy to assess how weight change correlated with other anthropometric parameters. The measurement that was most reproducible and correlated most with weight change was mid-arm circumference. As it is the simplest measurement to perform, we recommend that it is used more often in nutritional studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, University Hospital of Wales, and Welsh National School of Medicine, Heath Park, Cardiff, UK.
authors.forename: A D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Harries
authors.forename: L A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: R V
authors.initials: RV
authors.lastname: Heatley
authors.forename: R G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Newcombe
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rhodes