ACUTE MALNUTRITION; MID UPPER ARM CIRCUMFERENCE (MUAC) OF CHILDREN

.. Objective: To determine the frequency of low mid upper arm circumference (MUAC) of children with acute malnutrition. Patients and methods: This study was conducted in the department of paediatrics at Liaquat University Hospital Hyderabad from 01-06-2012 to 3011-2012. All the children with features of malnutrition, of either gender were recruited and evaluated for their mid upper arm circumference which was measured through plastic measuring tape. Result: During six month study period, total 135 children with acute malnutrition were studied for their mid upper arm circumference (MUAC), of which 95(70%) were males and 40(30%) were females. The mean age ±SD of overall population was 30.24±10.57 month while the mean age of male children was 32.88±11.76 and the female child was 31.62±10.97 months. Regarding the MUAC, was low in 93(68.9%) children with acute malnutrition. The mean age ±SD of child with low MUAC was 28.99±12.52 while the mean ±age of male and female child with low MUAC was 27.63±10.73 and 29.85±11.64 respectively. The mean MUAC in children of acute malnutrition with low MUAC was 8.85±3.93 while it was 8.66±3.96 and 8.93±3.31 in male and female child with low MUAC respectively. Conclusions: The present study suggested that MUAC is appropriate and good tool for identifying severe malnutrition in children.