From the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology. School of Public Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, P. 0. Box. 71345-1874, Shiraz, Islamic Republic of Iran.
Abstract: (5277 Views)
The reference charts for mid upper arm (MUAC), chest (CHC) and head
(HC) circumferences of a cohort of 317 healthy infants (153 boys and 164 girls)
born in Shiraz (Southern Iran) and monitored from birth for 2 years are presented.
Centiles for MUAC and HC lie below the Netherlands and US subjects respectively.
However, there is no suggestion of ill health for Iranian subjects. The use
of locally based MUAC, HC, and CHC charts are essential for clinical work in
Iran. Operational simplicity and measurement validity and accuracy suggest that
monitoring these measurements should be performed both by health workers in
the Iran primary health care system and by mothers for preventive measures as
well as child health promotion and development. The paper concludes that the
charts presented here are likely to be applied to the urban infant population of Iran
due to its structural representativeness and sophisticated methodology.