The validity of mid-upper arm circumference as an indicator of low BMI in population screening for undernutrition: a study among adult slum dwellers in eastern India.

Objective: To explore the possibility for a statistically appropriate value of mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) to identify the state of severe undernutrition, based on very low BMI, among adult Indian slum dwellers.

Design: Cross-sectional study on adults. Height and MUAC were recorded and BMI was computed.

Stunting, underweight and wasting among Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme children aged 3-5 years of Chapra, Nadia District, West Bengal, India.

This study investigated age and sex variations in height and weight, levels of stunting, underweight and wasting among 533 (254 boys; 279 girls) 3- to 5-year-old rural children of Bengalee ethnicity at 11 Integrated Child Development Services centres of Nadia District, West Bengal, India. Height-for-age, weight-for-age and weight-for-height < -2 z-scores were used to evaluate stunting, underweight and wasting, respectively, following the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) Guidelines. Results revealed that boys were significantly heavier than girls at age 3 years.