Overview of Anthropometric Measurement
Anthropometric measurements are simple, non-invasive ways to measure different parts of the body. According to public health authority, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), these measurements are really useful in assessing a person’s nutritional status – whether they’re getting enough of the right nutrients – in both adults and kids.
These types of measurements are especially used in children to get a sense of their overall health, whether they’re getting proper nutrition, and how their growth and development is going. How a child is growing compared to normal growth patterns is the main way doctors check on a child’s health and well-being. In adults, these body measurements can be used to assess overall health, diet, and risk for future diseases. They can also help to understand what the person’s body is made up of, like fat and muscle, which can indicate nutritional status and diagnose obesity.
The main components of these measurements include height, weight, head size (or ‘circumference’), body mass index (BMI – a measure that helps understand if a person’s weight is healthy for their height), measurements of body fatness (like waist, hip, and limbs), and skinfold thickness (a measure of fat under the skin). According to professional bodies such as the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Child Health and Disability Prevention (CHDP) Program, regularly taking these measurements accurately can help identify underlying medical, nutritional, or social problems in children. In the event that these measurements return abnormal values, especially in children, further investigation is required.
These measurements are not only useful for regular folks but athletes too, since they can tell about body composition which helps to improve their competitive performance. They can also help identify any underlying medical problems, like eating disorders. Fitness programs guided by anthropometry have been found to improve an athlete’s cardiovascular fitness and strength.
Besides, these measurements are used to check the nutritional status of pregnant women and in assessing people with obesity.
Why do People Need Anthropometric Measurement
The Child Health and Disability Prevention (CHDP) Program’s Health Assessment Guidelines suggest that all children and teens should have their height, weight, and other body measurements taken at each regular check-up. These measurements are crucial to monitor their growth and check for obesity risk. Continuous measurements are key because they show the pace and pattern of a child’s growth and can indicate whether it’s happening as expected. An occasional divergence from the typical growth curve can just be a one-off thing or due to a little sickness and not necessarily a cause for concern. But if measurements show a steady change away from the usual pattern over time, it might indicate an unusual growth issue that needs to be looked into.
For little ones under 2 years old, measurements should include weight, length, and head size at every well-child visit. For kids older than 2, height and weight should be measured at each visit. Body Mass Index (BMI) which is a calculation from weight and height and can give an idea of whether the child’s weight is healthy for their height, should be checked at every visit starting at age 2. This helps to ensure children are getting the right nutrition and to spot early signs of obesity risk.
These measurements can be compared to standard charts created by organizations like the World Health Organization (WHO) or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). These charts consider gender and age to show what is typical for most kids. This allows doctors to see how a child’s growth compares to other kids of the same age and gender.
For adults, these same types of body measurements should be taken at regular check-ups to monitor nutritional health and to help predict risks for certain diseases in the future.
When a Person Should Avoid Anthropometric Measurement
Anthropometric measurements are simple ways of measuring your body that don’t involve any medical procedures or technology. But, there are times when these measurements might not be accurate or even possible. For example, if you’re currently sick, the measurements might not reflect your normal body measurements. If you have a deformity or a cast on a limb, it may be impossible to take certain measurements.
In these situations, using these body measurements can give information that’s misleading – either making you think you’re more healthy or sicker than you actually are. So, it’s best not to rely on these measurements during such times.
Equipment used for Anthropometric Measurement
In order to collect accurate and valuable information from body measurements, it’s important that the tools used are reliable, regularly checked for precision, and of high quality. Here’s a list of the equipment typically needed to take these body measurements:
A weight scale – This is used to measure how heavy you are.
Calibration weights – These are standard weights used to check the accuracy of the weight scale.
Stadiometer – This tool measures your height while you’re standing up.
Knee caliper – This device measures the width of your knee.
Skinfold calipers – This instrument measures the thickness of a fold of your skin with its underlying layer of fat, used to estimate the overall body fat percentage.
Nonstretchable tape measure – This is used to measure various parts of your body such as your waist or hips. Unlike a regular measuring tape, it does not stretch, providing more accurate measurements.
Infantometer – This tool is used to measure the length of an infant who is lying down.
How is Anthropometric Measurement performed
Growth charts are tools that doctors use to track your child’s physical growth over time. They involve collecting various measurements such as height, weight, and head size, and comparing these figures to the average measurements for children of the same age and sex.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and World Health Organization (WHO) have different growth charts. The CDC charts use data from children in the U.S., in a variety of nutritional situations. WHO’s charts show how kids would grow under ideal conditions. A child’s growth is usually considered normal if it lands between the 5th and 95th percentiles on these charts. If a child falls between the 85th and 95th percentiles, they’re thought to be at risk of being overweight. Special growth charts are used for children with some specific conditions, like Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, and others.
The way a child’s growth is measured depends on their age. For infants and toddlers under 2 years old, a tape measure is used to measure the biggest part of the head, and the results are recorded. If the child can’t stand, their length is measured while they lay down. For children who can stand, height is measured using a tool called a stadiometer.
Weight also depends on age. For children under 2 years, doctors use a specific scale for babies. It measures weight to the nearest 0.01 kg or 0.5 ounces. When the child is older than 24 months, a regular scale can be used.
Another important measure is Body Mass Index (BMI), which is a calculation based on height and weight. This measure is recommended for all children older than 2 years. It’s good to remember that while BMI can be a useful tool, it doesn’t directly measure body fat and can be less accurate in certain situations, such as in athletes with a lot of muscle mass.
Z-scores are also used to help define if a child is malnourished. They use a statistic called a standard deviation to help compare a child’s growth to the average growth pattern. These scores cover various measurements such as weight-for-height and weight-for-age.
Measurements of a child’s limbs and waist can be helpful too, as well as measurements of skinfold thickness in various parts of the body. These can help give an idea about body composition and fat distribution.
Possible Complications of Anthropometric Measurement
Errors in the process of taking body measurements, known as anthropometric measurements, are the only complications associated with this activity. Some studies indicate that it is harder to get accurate weight and abdominal obesity measurements in people who are obese. This difficulty might be due to the challenge of identifying bony landmarks or key points on the body in obese patients.
Another common reason for measurement errors is inconsistency in the way measurements are taken. Traditional body measurements like weight, height, and BMI (Body Mass Index, which is a way to determine if a person is underweight, normal weight, overweight, or obese, based on their height and weight) are less likely to have errors. However, measurements like the head circumference, waist circumference, and the ratio between head and waist sizes can vary more and are more likely to have errors.
Interestingly, training only slightly reduces these measurement errors. A study done by Sebo and his team focused on how much these measurements could vary when they were taken by general practitioners, even after the practitioners received brief theoretical and practical training. Comparisons between this study and other studies also show that the practitioner’s experience doesn’t necessarily make these measurements more or less accurate.
What Else Should I Know About Anthropometric Measurement?
Anthropometric measurements, which involve evaluating body size, weight, and proportion, are useful in assessing the physical fitness of different people. This could range from children to top tier athletes to the elderly. It has been found that as the skill level of Australian volleyball players increased, so too did their anthropometric data. Similarly, certain exercises such as Pilates and aqua aerobics helped to reduce body mass index (BMI), weight, and waist-to-hip measurements in older women.
These measurements are crucial in defining obesity, a significant health risk that can lead to heart and kidney disease, stroke, diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure. The best method for determining obesity is still up for debate. Some studies suggest using BMI, waist circumference, waist-to-hip ratio, or waist-to-height ratio, but the majority lean towards BMI due to its historical use. It has been noted that increased measurements often lead to a higher chance of high cholesterol, hypertension, and high sugar levels.
Further, the lengths of your limbs could also indicate your risk for chronic diseases. For example, research shows that individuals with shorter upper leg length or upper arm length may have a higher chance of developing issues like metabolism disorder or diabetes, respectively.
These kind of measurements are not just useful for adults. In children, regularly tracking height, weight, and proportion can help spot irregular growth patterns early, leading to timely evaluation and intervention. Additionally, measuring the circumference of a child’s head is important for diagnosing microcephaly, a condition where the head size is smaller than normal, which can lead to complications.
For pregnant women, measuring the mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) can help assess their nutritional status.
Though technology is ever-advancing, some studies still show that traditional methods like measuring the waist and hip are more accurate than ultrasound in assessing regional fat distribution. One Swedish study demonstrated that people with certain conditions like heart attack, heart failure and cognitive impairment had significantly different anthropometric measurements. For instance, people with heart attacks had higher weight and waist-to-hip ratio, while those with cognitive impairment or dementia weighed less and had lower skinfold measurements, which is a method used for estimating body fat. This shows that these measurements can also play a key role in understanding and managing chronic medical conditions.