Comparison of four anthropometric methods of nutritional assessment and evaluation of the agreement between two reference populations

Abstract

A total of 841 children, aged 10 days to 5 years, seen at a primary health care centre in Ribeirao Preto, Brazil, were studied in order to compare the methods of Gomez, Waterlow, Shakir, and Kanawati and McLaren and to determine the correlation between the Brazilian and the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) reference populations, which are frequently used in Brazil. Anthropometric measurements (weight, height, arm circumference, and head circumference) were made and personal data were obtained in order to evaluate nutritional status according to the above methods. The two reference populations were compared by the method of Gomez. The NCHS and the Brazilian reference populations were concordant. Comparison of the methods of Gomez and Shakir showed a very mild agreement in the evaluation of nutritional status. Comparison of Waterlow 'wasting' with Kanawati and McLaren and with Gomez showed a mild agreement.