Validity of Weight and Height as a Nutritional Status Measurement for Adults in Kuri City

Anthropometric measurements, particularly weight and height, are the most commonly employed measures of nutritional status in epidemiologic studies because of their simplicity and ease of collection. However, the usefulness of the anthropometric indicator is controversial. The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of the anthropometric indicator to represent the nutritional status of individual adult in epidemiologic studies. In order to evaluate the usefulness of the anthropometric indicator to represent the nutritional status of individual, the validity in terms of sensitivity and specificity of anthropometric indicators was estimated by comparing the biochemical indicators to the reference indicators. The relative validity of dietary intake indicators was also measured for comparison between the three indicators of biochemistry, anthropometry and dietary assessment. The results showed that sensitivity of weight and height and dietary indicators were 16.7 an 50.5, respectively comparing the reference value of 100 as biochemical indicator in identifying anemic adults. Whereas the sensitivity of weight and height and dietary indicators were 63.6 and 36.4, respectively comparing reference value of 100 in identifying hyperlipidemic individuals(obesity). In conclusion, the validity of weight and height is much lower than that of biochemical indicator, burt weight and height still has some usefulness in identifying anemic individuals. Especially, it is more useful in identifying hyperlipidemic individual adults thant in identifying anemic individuals.