METHODS: In this cross-sectional, hospital-based study, anthropometric measurements [weight, length/height, mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC), triceps skinfold thickness were performed in 285 children aged from 3 months to 15 years who were admitted to University Malaya Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur in November 2013. Acute (wasting) and chronic (stunting) undernutrition were defined as weight-for-height (WFH) and height-for-age (HFA) < -2 standard deviation (S.D.), respectively. Underweight was defined as weight-for-age < -2 S.D. For children aged between 1 and 5 years of age, World Health Organization definition for acute undernutrition (HFA
Methods: We used cross-sectional data on 6759 children and adolescents aged 6-19 years living in Segamat, Malaysia. We compared prevalence estimates for stunting defined using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) references, using Cohen's κ coefficient. Associations between sociodemographic indices and stunting risk were examined using mixed-effects Poisson regression with robust standard errors.
Results: The classification of children and adolescents as stunted or normal height differed considerably between the two references (CDC v. WHO; κ for agreement: 0.73), but prevalence of stunting was high regardless of reference (crude prevalence: CDC 29.2%; WHO: 19.1%). Stunting risk was approximately 19% higher among underweight v. normal weight children and adolescents (p = 0.030) and 21% lower among overweight children and adolescents (p = 0.001), and decreased strongly with improved household drinking water sources [risk ratio (RR) for water piped into house: 0.35, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.30-0.41, p < 0.001). Protective effects were also observed for improved sanitation facilities (RR for flush toilet: 0.41, 95% CI 0.19-0.88, p = 0.023). Associations were not materially affected in multiple sensitivity analyses.
Conclusions: Our findings justify a framework for strategies addressing stunting across childhood, and highlight the need for consensus on a single definition of stunting in older children and adolescents to streamline monitoring efforts.
STUDY DESIGN: We assessed data from 6414 children aged 6-18 years, collected by the South East Asia Community Observatory. Child underweight, overweight, and obesity were expressed according to 3 internationally used BMI references: World Health Organization 2007, International Obesity Task Force 2012, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2000. We assessed agreement in classification of anthropometric status among the references using Cohen's kappa statistic and estimated underweight, overweight, and obesity prevalence according to each reference using mixed effects Poisson regression.
RESULTS: There was poor to moderate agreement between references when classifying underweight, but generally good agreement when classifying overweight and obesity. Underweight, overweight, and obesity prevalence estimates generated using the 3 references were notably inconsistent. Overweight and obesity prevalence estimates were higher using the World Health Organization reference vs the other 2, and underweight prevalence was up to 8.5% higher and obesity prevalence was about 4% lower when using the International Obesity Task Force reference.
CONCLUSIONS: The choice of reference to express BMI may influence conclusions about child anthropometric status and malnutrition prevalence. This has implications regarding strategies for clinical management and public health interventions.
METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out on 446 older adults aged 50 years and above from 20 randomly selected villages. Respondents were interviewed to collect information on their demographic characteristics and oral health perception, followed by physical examination to measure height, weight and body mass index (BMI) of respondents. The validated Malay version of General Oral Health Assessment Index (GOHAI) was used to measure OHRQoL.
RESULTS: About one-third (35.8%) of the respondents had normal BMI. Majority of the respondents were overweight (40.4%) and obese (19.9%), while only a small proportion was underweight (3.9%). Mean GOHAI score was 53.3 (SD = 4.7), indicating low perception of oral health. About 81.6% respondents had moderate to low perception of oral health. Logistic regression analysis showed a statistically significant association between the GOHAI and BMI scores (OR = 2.3; p