Improving case-detection of severe wasting among under-five-year-old children in Timor Leste: A secondary analysis of data from the 2020 national cross-sectional food and nutrition survey.

ABSTRACT: The World Health Organization recommends using weight-for-height Z-score (WHZ) <-3 or Mid-Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) <115 mm as independent criteria for diagnosing severe wasting. However, there are several challenges in using the WHZ criterion. As a result, the MUAC (and edema)-only approach for identifying children needing treatment for severe wasting has been developed and is being rapidly scaled-up globally, including in Timor-Leste. But previous studies reported that MUAC<115 mm has poor diagnostic accuracy for detecting children with WHZ<-3. The two options being explored globally for improving the identification of these children in MUAC (and edema)-only programming contexts include expanding MUAC cut-off and the combination of the indicators MUAC and Weight-for-Age Z-score (WAZ

SUBMITTER: Mutunga M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11478875 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature