Nomograms for monitoring nutritional status

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The commonest method of estimating the nutritional status of children is by anthropometry, but such measurements have little meaning unless they can be related to some standard or reference values. The further the actual measurements deviate from the standard or reference set, the more likely there is to be an abnormality in the subject. There is a tendency for the standard data set to be taken as an ideal, and for this reason the term reference data set is preferable. The desirability or otherwise of any particular pattern of growth cannot be derived directly from the comparison with the reference data set but must be found empirically by comparing growth patterns with outcomes. When comparing observed measurements with reference values, the commonest method is to express the observed value as a percentage of the mean (or median) of the reference. Unfortunately, this usually involves interpolation and calculation from tabulated values of the reference set. A simpler method is to use nomograms, which are diagrams so arranged that corresponding values are always in a straight line. Recently, WHO has recommended that the NCHS [National Child Health Surveys] data should be used as a world-wide reference set. To facilitate the use of these data, a series of nomograms were prepared. [Most were designed for use in undernourished populations, but some were extended to cover potentially obese groups.].