AJCN EB Program 2010
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Purchase Article
Right arrow View Shopping Cart
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Prista, A.
Right arrow Articles by Beunen, G.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Prista, A.
Right arrow Articles by Beunen, G.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Prista, A.
Right arrow Articles by Beunen, G.
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 77, No. 4, 952-959, April 2003
© 2003 American Society for Clinical Nutrition

Original Research Communication

Anthropometric indicators of nutritional status: implications for fitness, activity, and health in school-age children and adolescents from Maputo, Mozambique1,2,3

António Prista, José António Ribeiro Maia, Albertino Damasceno and Gaston Beunen

1 From the Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Universidade Pedagógica, Maputo, Mozambique (AP); the Faculty of Sports Sciences, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal (JARM); the Faculty of Medicine, Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, Maputo, Mozambique (AP and AD); and Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Leuven, Belgium (GB).

Background: Studies are needed to test the relevance of the anthropometric criteria for health and well-being, particularly in developing countries.

Objective: The objective of the study was to identify the relevance of anthropometric indexes as indicators of nutritional status.

Design: The sample consisted of 2316 subjects (n = 1094 males, 1222 females) aged 6–18 y from Mozambique. Anthropometric variables, maturity stage, physical fitness, physical activity, and metabolic fitness were measured. Samples of blood, urine, and feces were obtained. Subjects were classified in 5 nutritional groups labeled normal, low height-for-age (stunted), low weight-for-height (wasted), low height-for-age and low weight-for-height (stunted and wasted), and overweight, according to cutoffs set by a World Health Organization expert committee. Socioeconomic status was classified according to region of residence.

Results: Prevalence rates for males and females, respectively, in the nutritional groups were 3.0% and 2.3% (stunted group), 21.9% and 10.0% (wasted group), 3.0% and 0.8% (stunted and wasted group), and 4.8% and 7.7% (overweight group). With control for age, socioeconomic status, and maturity stage, the overweight group performed significantly worse than did the other groups on most of the fitness tests. Compared with the normal group, the 3 undernourished groups performed significantly worse in absolute strength tasks, better in endurance tasks, and equally in flexibility and agility. Very few differences were found in physical activity scores. The 3 undernourished groups had scores for the biochemical indicators that were similar to those of the normal group and had more favorable profiles for blood pressure and cholesterol.

Conclusions: In this population, the cutoffs used to classify overweight status appear to appropriately identify potential health problems. No relevance to health was found for the lower cutoffs identifying undernourished children.

Key Words: Nutritional status • anthropometric indicators • Africa • children • adolescents • physical fitness • stunting • wasting • overweight • Mozambique






HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 2003 by The American Society for Nutrition