[afro-nets] Assessing nutritional status

["Claudio Schuftan" <cschuftan@phmovement.org>]

The weight of a child is considered a poor method of assessing nutritional state unless combined with a measurement of height. Unfortunately weight charts are rarely completed satisfactorily enough to show a faltering in growth. A simple low cost alternative is a mid upper arm circumference (MUAC) measurement. This can be used by community members with little  training and when literacy levels are low as the tapes  coloured green, yellow and red. TALC has produced MUAC insertion tapes  since 1994 and has sent out over a quarter of a million. The tapes have recently been improved by including colour and also printed on the back guidance on  their possible use for pregnant women, and adults effected by famine  or HIV/AIDS.

More information on these tapes will be sent on request to mailto:info@talcuk.org or by post to 
TALC, 
POB 49.
St Albans, Herts, 
AL1 5TX , UK

--
David Morley, UK 
mailto:david@morleydc.demon.co.uk