The Iraqi National Nutrition Survey: Correlation between Various Anthropometric Measurements as Indicators of Severity of Malnutrition

Abstract

This study is part of a national nutrition survey conducted in Iraq during 1992 and 1993. Anthropometric measurements were obtained in 3,616 children under five years of age. of those children, 24% were diagnosed as moderately undernourished and 6% as severely undernourished by mid-upper-arm circumference measurements. According to weight-for-height, only 11% were diagnosed as moderately undernourished and 3% as severely undernourished. the discrepancy between the results of these two measurements can be minimized by establishing a new cut-off level for mid-upper-arm circumference for defining malnutrition in our population.