WEIGHT AS A CLINICAL ANTHROPOLOGICAL PARAMETER

Weight is a sensitive nutritional assesor, a growth and also an anthro pological parameter whose normal values depend on interplay of environ mental and genetic factors. The use of weight charts for clinical asse ssment are examined in this discussion paper and a new prescribed weig ht chart is presented based on values of weight obtained from a recent survey of rural and urban dwelling children in Eastern Nigeria. It is concluded that a clinician must use weight charts for his community i n diagnosis of failure to thrive (or indeed of obesity) rather than re ly on foreign values.