Assessment of Nutritional Status in the Newborn: A Comparison of Methods

Authors: Eren ÖZEK, Deniz ERTEM, Elif ERKAN, Ender PEHLİVANOĞLU, Nural BEKİROĞLU

Abstract: In an attempt to compare the usefulness of the different methods of nutritional assessment in the newborn, one hundred and seven newborns were evaluated for weight, head circumference, mid-arm circumference, and tiriceps skinfold thickness. When weight and triceps skinfold thickness were compared, the distribution of infants was almost the same as for intrauterine growth (p>0.05). There was a statistically significant difference in the distribution of infants according to weight versus MAC (p<0.05) and MAC/HC (p<0.0001). 12.1% and 7.5% of infants who were below the 10th percentile according to MAC/HC and MAC, respectively, would have gone undetected if only weight was used as an anthropometric factor. We conclude that, simple and noninvasive methods of nutritional assessment such as MAC and MAC/HC may be useful adjuncts to routine anthropometrics, especially to detect the borderline malnourished cases in the neonatal period who may be at risk for neonatal mortality and morbidity.

Keywords: Nutritional assessment, anthropometrics, neonate.