METHODS OF NUTRITIONAL ASSESSMENT FOR DETERMINING NUTRITIONAL CARE ATTHE PRESCHOOL LEVEL

Prevalence of malnutrition in pre-school children may be used to deter mine the need for nutrition surveillance or nutritional care, That pre valence depends on the nutritional classification used, The authors co nsider that one of the most recommended classifications used for ident ifying Protein Energy Malnutrition (PEM) was developed by Waterlow, Th e criteria includes weight-for-height and height-for-age, Frisancho su ggested that Arm Muscle Area (AMA), related to height, could provide u seful measurements for assessing mass reserve, thus, in beginning stag es of PEM it is worthwhile to determine those who could benefit from n utritional services, The aim of this study was to determine the percen tages of pre-school children considered well nourished by Waterlow ind icators, but wasted or below average using the AMA for height criteria , Children (881) of either sex, from 48 to 79 months of age, were stud ied from the Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico pre-school system, Stand ard anthropometric measurements were taken including weight, height, u pper-arm circumference, and triceps skinfold, Arm muscle area was crea ted from those measurements, Using Waterlow indicators, results showed deficit of height-for-age alone was seen in 25.6%; deficit of weight- for-height alone was observed in 1%; deficit of AMC-for-height, but we ll nourished by Waterlow indicators was seen in 14.9%, If one speculat es that children with deficits of AMC-for-height could have different risks of acquiring a disease compared to those apparently normal, then 14.9% of the studied sample would also need nutritional care, Thus, u sing these criteria, the need for nutritional surveillance and nutriti onal education is greater for PEM than that established exclusively us ing Waterlow criteria.