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Updated: Apr 28, 2026
Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study
Published on: February 2, 2017
Use of mid-upper arm circumference for determining overweight and overfatness in children and adolescents
E Craig1, R Bland2, J Ndirangu3
1Section of Human Nutrition, University of Glasgow, Yorkhill Hospitals, Glasgow, UK Africa Centre for Health and Population Studies, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Mtubatuba, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
Objective:
To assess the use of mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) for identification of overweight and overfatness in rural South African children and adolescents.
Methods:
Anthropometric data (weight, height, MUAC and % body fat) from a cross-sectional sample of 978 black South African 5-14-year-olds were analysed. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis determined the validity of MUAC as a proxy for determining overweight and overfatness.
Findings:
Area under the curve (AUC) results were generally high. Boys and girls aged 10-14 years had ROC-AUC for overfatness classed as 'excellent', 0.97 and 0.98 respectively. Cut-points in the MUAC distribution which optimised the ROC-AUC for identification of overfatness and obesity were determined for boys and girls aged 5-9 and 10-14 years, and had high sensitivity and specificity.
Conclusions:
MUAC may have potential for clinical and surveillance applications as an accurate yet simple and widely available indicator of overweight and overfatness in children and adolescents in resource-poor settings.
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