Dear Experts, Besides MUAC <21.0 cm and checking the weight gain of pregnant woman, are there any assessment that can be done to determine if a pregnant woman is undernourished? Thanks. Regards, Derich
Dear Frederich, I presume you have seen this previous discussion on anthropometric assessment of pregnant women [url=http://www.en-net.org/question/348.aspx]here[/url] which culminated in the link to a paper written by Mija-Tesse Ververs etc al. ? Best wishes, Tamsin
Tamsin Walters
Forum Moderator

Answered:

9 years ago
The [url=http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3682760/]referenced paper[/url] puts forward 23 cm not 21 cm as the threshold for intervention. MUAC and weight are gross anthropometry. Micronutrient status is key in pregnancy for both the mother and the growing foetus and supplements are usually given. Important micronutrient deficiencies should be detected and corrected by supplementation either directly or by proxy (e.g. low dietary diversity). It is common to assume deficiency and supplement all pregnant women either with 'medicinal' preparations (e.g. FeFol tablets) and/or with mass fortification of staples such a bread flour. I hope this helps.
Mark Myatt
Technical Expert

Answered:

9 years ago
Thanks Tamsin and Mark.
Frederich Christian Tan

Answered:

9 years ago
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