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A comparison of five anthropometric indices for identifying factors of malnutrition.

Five anthropometric indices--weight-for-age, height-for-age, weight-for-height, weight velocity, and height velocity--are compared for identifying factors of nutritional status of children. Data come from Matlab, the field station of the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh. Weights and heights on approximately 1,400 children aged 12-60 months were taken 11 times at two-month intervals. Dwelling floor space, a proxy for socioeconomic status, is considered a long-term factor; the 1974-1975 Bangladesh famine, a medium-term factor; and season, a short-term factor of nutritional status. The figures of the indices by socioeconomic status at different times show their power to identify the factors visually; the regression analyses test statistical significance of the factors; and the standardized regression coefficients provide relative power of the indices to identify the factors. Weight-for-age and height-for-age appear best for identifying long- and medium-term factors; weight velocity, for identifying short-term factors. Weight-for-height is third in identifying long- and medium-term factors, second for identifying short-term factors. Height velocity identifies short-term factors only. The effect of short-term factors on height velocity appears approximately four months later than it appears on weight velocity. This study clarifies why certain indices do not predict mortality in this study population and others.