Objective:The Composite Index of Anthropometric Failure (CIAF) can only be applied to children under 5 years of age and does not contemplate obesity. The aim of this study was to propose an Extended CIAF (ECIAF) that combines the characterization of malnutrition due to undernutrition and excess weight, and apply it in six Argentine provinces.Design:ECIAF excludes children not in anthropometric failure (group A) and was calculated from a percentage of children included in malnutrition categories B: wasting only; C: wasting and underweight; D: wasting, stunting and underweight; E: stunting and underweight; F: stunting only; Y: underweight only; G: only weight excess; and H: stunting and weight excess.Setting:Cross-sectional study conducted in Buenos Aires, Catamarca, Chubut, Jujuy, Mendoza and Misiones (Argentina).Participants:10 879 children of both sexes aged between 3 and 13·99.Results:ECIAF in preschool children (3 to 4·99 years) was 15·1 %. The highest prevalence was registered in Mendoza (16·7 %) and the lowest in Misiones (12·0 %). In school children (5 to 13·99 years) ECIAF was 28·6 %. Mendoza also recorded the highest rate (30·7 %), while Catamarca and Chubut had the lowest values (27·0 %). In the whole sample, about 25 % of the malnutrition was caused by undernutrition and 75 % by excess weight.Conclusions:The ECIAF summarizes anthropometric failure by both deficiency and excess weight and it highlights that a quarter of the malnutrition in the Argentine population was caused by undernutrition, although there are differences between Provinces (P < 0·05). ECIAF estimates are higher than those of CIAF or under-nutrition.

Objective: To analyse the association between waist-to-height ratio (WtHR) and body fat and to develop predictive adiposity equations that will simplify the diagnosis of obesity in the paediatric age group. Design: Cross-sectional study conducted in Spain during 2007 and 2008. Anthropometric dimensions were taken according to the International Biology Program. The children were classified as underweight, normal weight, overweight or obese according to national standards of percentage body fat (%BF). WtHR differences among nutritional status categories were evaluated using ANOVA. Correlation analysis and regression analysis were carried out using WtHR as a predictor variable for %BF. A t test was applied to the results obtained by the regression model and by the Siri equation. The degree of agreement between both methods was evaluated by estimating the intra-class correlation coefficient. Setting: Elementary and secondary schools in Madrid (Spain). Subjects: Girls (n 1158) and boys (n 1161) from 6 to 14 years old. Results: WtHR differed significantly (P , 0?001) depending on nutritional status category. This index was correlated (P , 0?001) with all adiposity indicators. The mean %BF values estimated by the regression model (boys: %BF 5 106?50 3 WtHR -28?36; girls: %BF 5 89?73 3 WtHR -15?40) did not differ from those obtained by the Siri equation. The intra-class correlation coefficient (0?85 in boys, 0?79 in girls) showed a high degree of concordance between both methods. Conclusions: WtHR proved to be an effective method for predicting relative adiposity in 6-14-year-olds. The developed equations can help to simplify the diagnosis of obesity in schoolchildren.

The Southern Wide-field Gamma-ray Observatory (SWGO) project aims to build an array of air-shower detectors in the Southern hemisphere. Intensive site search activities are ongoing. We developed an Autonomous Environmental and Scientific SWGO Site Characterization Instrument (AEROSITE) to measure environmental characteristics of the proposed sites and deployed four of them in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and Peru. The instruments are located at very high altitudes of more than 4500 m.a.s.l. We completed an intensive cross-calibration campaign to validate the performance and sensitivity of all AEROSITEs in 2020 and installed the instruments at the sites between October 2021 and April 2022. The instruments are gathering important data without any major issues. At some candidate sites, non-SWGO environmental monitoring systems are also available. In this case, the AEROSITE serves as a cross-calibration instrument to allow a possible extension of the data points to the past using the available data sources. On the other hand, the AEROSITE data are important for designing the SWGO detectors using the real conditions at the sites such as temperatures, wind, electric field and seismic activity.