Acute Malnutrition

Abstract

Objective: To determine the frequency of low mid upper arm circumference(MUAC) of children with acute malnutrition. Patients and methods: This study was conducted inthe department of paediatrics at Liaquat University Hospital Hyderabad from 01-06-2012 to 30-11-2012. All the children with features of malnutrition, of either gender were recruited andevaluated for their mid upper arm circumference which was measured through plastic measuringtape. Result: During six month study period, total 135 children with acute malnutrition werestudied for their mid upper arm circumference (MUAC), of which 95(70%) were males and40(30%) were females. The mean age ±SD of overall population was 30.24±10.57 month whilethe mean age of male children was 32.88±11.76 and the female child was 31.62±10.97 months.Regarding the MUAC, was low in 93(68.9%) children with acute malnutrition. The mean age ±SDof child with low MUAC was 28.99±12.52 while the mean ±age of male and female child with lowMUAC was 27.63±10.73 and 29.85±11.64 respectively. The mean MUAC in children of acutemalnutrition with low MUAC was 8.85±3.93 while it was 8.66±3.96 and 8.93±3.31 in male andfemale child with low MUAC respectively. Conclusions: The present study suggested that MUACis appropriate and good tool for identifying severe malnutrition in children.

Disparities with global standards about growth references of mid‐upper arm circumference‐for‐age for Pakistani children aged 6–60 months

“…In assessing children vulnerable to malnutrition, including those who do not show signs of severe or moderate acute malnutrition, a MUAC measurement less than 13.5 cm is typically employed as a benchmark. 25,27,28 However, recent research challenged the inflexibility of this cut-off point. Instead, it advocates for using locally established MUAC limits endorsed by a global consensus for diagnosing malnutrition.…”

“…18 By fine-tuning the degrees of freedom until reaching the desired outcomes, the process involved obtaining values for the theoretical percentile that closely matched the empirical percentiles (Table S1). A number of Pakistani studies [25][26][27][28] have shown their interest in the MUAC variable as an indicator for the evaluation of the nutritional status of children and adolescents during the last decade. However, none of these studies provided reference values about the MUAC-for-age of Pakistani children.…”

“…However, the results of the study suggested that employing a single cut‐off point for every group of people may render waste diagnosis less precise at the individual level. In assessing children vulnerable to malnutrition, including those who do not show signs of severe or moderate acute malnutrition, a MUAC measurement less than 13.5 cm is typically employed as a benchmark 25,27,28 . However, recent research challenged the inflexibility of this cut‐off point.…”