TY - JOUR
T1 - Towards standardised and valid anthropometric indicators of nutritional status in middle childhood and adolescence
AU - Lelijveld, Natasha
AU - Benedict, Rukundo K.
AU - Wrottesley, Stephanie V.
AU - Bhutta, Zulfiqar A.
AU - Borghi, Elaine
AU - Cole, Tim J.
AU - Croft, Trevor
AU - Frongillo, Edward A.
AU - Hayashi, Chika
AU - Namaste, Sorrel
AU - Sharma, Deepika
AU - Tumilowicz, Alison
AU - Wells, Jonathan C.
AU - Ezzati, Majid
AU - Patton, George C.
AU - Mates, Emily
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank Dina Aburmishan, David Ross, and Sejla Isanovic who reviewed or contributed to early versions of this Viewpoint, and we thank the generous donors who supported the time of the lead authors to work on this paper: Ireland's Department for Foreign Affairs, UNICEF, and the United States Agency for International Development; the latter of which supported DHS staff through The DHS Program, grant number 720-OAA-18C-00083. The authors alone are responsible for the views expressed in this Viewpoint and they do not necessarily represent the views, decisions, or policies of the institutions with which they are affiliated.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2022/10
Y1 - 2022/10
N2 - Recognition of the importance of nutrition during middle childhood (age 5–9 years) and adolescence (age 10–19 years) is increasing, particularly in the context of global food insecurity and rising overweight and obesity rates. Until now, policy makers have been slow to respond to rapidly changing patterns of malnutrition across these age groups. One barrier has been a scarcity of consistent and regular nutrition surveillance systems for these age groups. What should be measured, and how best to operationalise anthropometric indicators that have been the cornerstone of nutrition surveillance in younger children and in adults, has been the topic of ongoing debate. Even with consensus on the importance of a given anthropometric indicator, difficulties arise in interpreting trends over time and between countries owing to the use of different terminologies, reference data, and cutoff points. In this Viewpoint we highlight the need to revisit anthropometric indicators across middle childhood and adolescence, a process that will require WHO and UNICEF coordination, the engagement of national implementors and policy makers, and partnership with research communities and donors.
AB - Recognition of the importance of nutrition during middle childhood (age 5–9 years) and adolescence (age 10–19 years) is increasing, particularly in the context of global food insecurity and rising overweight and obesity rates. Until now, policy makers have been slow to respond to rapidly changing patterns of malnutrition across these age groups. One barrier has been a scarcity of consistent and regular nutrition surveillance systems for these age groups. What should be measured, and how best to operationalise anthropometric indicators that have been the cornerstone of nutrition surveillance in younger children and in adults, has been the topic of ongoing debate. Even with consensus on the importance of a given anthropometric indicator, difficulties arise in interpreting trends over time and between countries owing to the use of different terminologies, reference data, and cutoff points. In this Viewpoint we highlight the need to revisit anthropometric indicators across middle childhood and adolescence, a process that will require WHO and UNICEF coordination, the engagement of national implementors and policy makers, and partnership with research communities and donors.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85138020898&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/S2352-4642(22)00196-1
DO - 10.1016/S2352-4642(22)00196-1
M3 - Review article
C2 - 36027904
AN - SCOPUS:85138020898
SN - 2352-4642
VL - 6
SP - 738
EP - 746
JO - The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health
JF - The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health
IS - 10
ER -
