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Updated: Feb 21, 2026
Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study
Published on: February 2, 2017
THE NUTRITIONAL STATUS OF HOSPITALIZED CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS: A COMPARISON BETWEEN TWO NUTRITIONAL ASSESSMENT
Thaynara Cristina de Oliveira1, Izabela Zibetti de Albuquerque1, Maria Luiza Ferreira Stringhini1
1Universidade Federal de Goiás, Goiânia, GO, Brasil.
Insights
The STRONGkids scale effectively screens for pediatric nutritional risk, while the Subjective Global Assessment of Nutritional Status (SGA) is better for detailed nutritional assessment due to its link with anthropometric indicators.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Nutrition
- Nutritional Assessment Tools
- Anthropometry in Children
Background:
- Accurate nutritional assessment is crucial for pediatric health outcomes.
- Existing tools like Subjective Global Assessment of Nutritional Status (SGA) and Screening of Risk for Nutritional Status and Growth (STRONGkids) require validation against anthropometric data.
- Understanding the association between these scales and objective measurements is key for effective clinical practice.
Purpose of the Study:
- To verify the association between anthropometric indicators and two common nutritional assessment scales: SGA and STRONGkids.
- To evaluate the utility of SGA and STRONGkids in identifying nutritional status in hospitalized children and adolescents.
- To compare the effectiveness of SGA and STRONGkids in pediatric nutritional risk screening.
Main Methods:
- A cross-sectional study involving 71 patients aged 0-18 years admitted to a hospital.
- Data collection included identification, anthropometric measurements, and application of SGA and STRONGkids scales within 48 hours of admission.
- Statistical analysis focused on comparing proportions and assessing agreement between the scales and anthropometric indicators (p<0.05 significance).
Main Results:
- Significant associations were found between SGA and body mass index/age (p=0.022), height/age (p<0.001), and arm muscle circumference (p=0.014).
- STRONGkids identified 69% of the sample at moderate or high nutritional risk, while SGA indicated a malnutrition prevalence of 38.1%.
- No significant association was observed between STRONGkids and anthropometric indicators; however, a weak correlation (k=0.255) existed between STRONGkids risk levels and malnutrition severity.
Conclusions:
- The STRONGkids scale demonstrates higher sensitivity for screening pediatric patients at nutritional risk.
- The Subjective Global Assessment of Nutritional Status (SGA) is recommended for detailed nutritional assessment due to its established association with anthropometric measures.
- Combined use of screening and assessment tools may optimize nutritional care in pediatric populations.
Objective:
Verify the association between anthropometric indicators and the Subjective Global Assessment of Nutritional Status (SGA) and the Screening of Risk for Nutritional Status and Growth (STRONGkids) scales.
Methods:
A cross-sectional study with patients from 0 to 18 years admitted in the Hospital das Clínicas, Goiânia (GO), between August and November 2015. Children and adolescents admitted in up to 48 hours were included. Patients who required specific instruments for assessing their nutritional status and those hospitalized in Intensive Care were excluded. Identification and anthropometric data was collected and applied to the SGA and STRONGkids. We performed an analysis comparing proportions and did an agreement assessment, where p<0.05 was significant.
Results:
71 patients were evaluated, of whom 9.6% had low or very low birth weight/age, 9.7% had thinness or accentuated thinness according to the weight/height index, 16.9% had a height impairment, 7% were thin according to the body mass index/age, and 32.4% were malnourished with regard to arm muscle circumference. The STRONGkids detected that 69% of the sample had a moderate or high nutritional risk. According to the SGA, malnutrition prevalence was 38.1%. There was an association between the SGA and body mass index/age (p=0.022), height/age (p<0.001) and arm muscle circumference (p=0.014). There was no association between the STRONGkids and anthropometric indicators. A correlation was found between: high nutritional risk versus severe malnutrition and low nutritional risk x the well-nourished (p<0.001), but the agreement was weak (k=0.255).
Conclusions:
It is recommended to use the STRONGkids as a screening instrument because it has a higher sensitivity for diagnosing patients with a nutritional risk. The SGA should be applied to nutritional assessment due to its association with anthropometry.
