Arm area measurements as indices of nutritional reserves and body water in African newborns

Abstract

Although application of non-invasive techniques for early evaluation of body water, calorie and protein reserves has been available for more than two decades, there is a dearth of information on the evaluation of extracellular water, protein and calorie reserves in the African newborn. A cross-sectional study of arm area measurements was undertaken in 510 term new-born infants consisting of 318 infants who were normal weight term infants (NWTI) with a mean birth weight of 2898.5 ± 287.7 g and 192 low birth weight term infants (LBWTI) with a mean birth weight of 2176.5 ± 194.7 g. The triceps skin fold thickness (TSF), the arm fat area (AFA), percentage of arm area (AFA%) and arm water area (AWA) were significantly greater in females than males weighing >2500 g at birth (P < 0.05), though the mean birth -weight and mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) were similar (P > 0.05). With the exception of AFA%, all measured and calculated indices were significantly lower in LBWTI than in the NWTI irrespective of sex (P < 0.05). The measurements may aid detection of newborns at risk of developing malnutrition in an area of the world where childhood undernutrition is common.