Anthropometry and Nutrition Assessment

Anthropometry and Growth Assessment

• Anthropometry refers to the measurement of the human individual
• Growth assessment involves measuring height and/or weight, and sometimes more specialized measurements, plotted on suitable reference charts and interpreted appropriately

Growth Assessment

• Determines whether a child is growing "normally" or has a growth problem or trend towards a growth problem

Nutritional Assessment

• A structured way to establish nutritional status and energy requirements
• Includes:
  • Feeding history
  • Clinical examination
  • Anthropometry
  • Basic hematological and biochemical indices
• Provides nutritional status and energy requirements

Medical and Dietary History

• Includes:
  • Dietary history (breastfed infants, formula-fed infants, and older children)
  • Review of acute and chronic illnesses
  • History of preexisting nutrient deficiencies
  • Social history (poverty, domestic violence, parental employment, parental marital status, and parental substance abuse)

Dietary History

• For breastfed infants:
  • Duration, positioning, and attachment
  • Exclusive vs predominant vs mixed feeding
  • Supplementary bottles, other foods
  • Formula preparation and volume consumed
• For formula-fed infants:
  • Quantity and quality of current intake
  • How feed is made
  • Feeding techniques
• For older children:
  • Number of meals and snacks per day
  • What the child eats at each meal
  • Appetite
  • Milk/juice consumption
  • 24-hour dietary recall

Anthropometric Parameters

• For premature infants up to 2 years of age:
  • Corrected age is derived by deducting the number of weeks born early from the actual (chronological) age for plotting on growth charts
• Head circumference is a routine measurement