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BMC Public Health
Published in: BMC Public Health 1/2019

Open Access 01-12-2019 | Nutrition | Research article

Nutritional status among young adolescents attending primary school in Tanzania: contributions of mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) for adolescent assessment

Authors: Margaret Lillie, Isaac Lema, Sylvia Kaaya, Dori Steinberg, Joy Noel Baumgartner

Published in: BMC Public Health | Issue 1/2019

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Abstract

Background

Adolescence is a critical time of development and nutritional status in adolescence influences both current and future adult health outcomes. However, data on adolescent nutritional status is limited in low-resource settings. Mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) has the potential to offer a simple, low-resource alternative or supplement to body mass index (BMI) in assessing nutrition in adolescent populations.

Methods

This is secondary data analysis, from a cross-sectional pilot study, which analyses anthropometric data from a sample of young adolescents attending their last year of primary school in Pwani Region and Dar es Salaam Region, Tanzania (n = 154; 92 girls & 62 boys; mean age 13.2 years).

Results

The majority of adolescents (75%) were of normal nutritional status defined by BMI. Significantly more males were stunted than females, while significantly more females were overweight than males. Among those identified as outside the normal nutrition ranges, there was inconsistency between MUAC and BMI cut-offs. Bivariate analyses indicate that BMI and MUAC show a positive correlation for both female and male participants, and the relationship between BMI and MUAC was more strongly correlated among adolescent females.

Conclusions

Further studies are needed with more nutritionally and demographically diverse populations to better understand the nutritional status of adolescents and the practical contribution of MUAC cut-offs to measure adolescent nutrition.
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Metadata
Title
Nutritional status among young adolescents attending primary school in Tanzania: contributions of mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) for adolescent assessment
Authors
Margaret Lillie
Isaac Lema
Sylvia Kaaya
Dori Steinberg
Joy Noel Baumgartner
Publication date
01-12-2019
Publisher
BioMed Central
Keyword
Nutrition
Published in
BMC Public Health / Issue 1/2019
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2458
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-7897-4

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