Summary

In this Study Session, you have learned that:

• Nutritional assessment is the process of estimating the nutritional status of an individual or group of people at a given point in time. Its purpose is to determine the nutritional status of an individual or a community and helps to monitor trends in the change of nutritional status over time. It also contributes to control the effectiveness of the nutritional intervention.
• Anthropometric measurement is the various physical dimensions like height, weight and gross composition of the individual body to provide nutritional status.
• The body composition is measured by body mass index (BMI), it is a good measurement for an adult except pregnant women.
• An index is a combination of two or more raw measurements or one measurement plus the person's age. .
• Clinical assessment method is necessary to identify micronutrient deficiency, like goitre, Vitamin A and iron deficiency diseases protein energy malnutrition (wasting).
• Weight for height is measured for wasting; it indicates severe acute malnutrition.
• Bilateral oedema is checked on the top of the Childs' foot using both hands, and it should be graded. Its presence means severe acute malnutrition
• Community diagnosis: Is a process of collecting, organising and interpretation of data to identify community health problems. Its purpose is to identifying health problem in a community and used as baseline for decision on the need for nutritional intervention