Perspective: Are We Ready to Measure Child Nutritional Status with Lasers?

The continued use of basic, manual anthropometric tools (e.g., boards and tapes) leaves anthropometry susceptible to human error. A potential solution, 3-dimensional (3D) imaging systems for anthropometry, has been around since the 1950s. In the 1980s, 3D imaging technology advanced from photographs to the use of lasers for body digitization; and by the 2000s, the falling price of 3D scanners made commercial application feasible. The garment sector quickly adopted imaging technology for surveys because of the need for numerous measurements and large sample sizes. In the health sector, 3D imaging for anthropometry was not widely adopted; its use was limited to research and specialized purposes. The different cost and logistical requirements for measurement in the garment and health sectors help to explain why the technology was adopted in one sector and not the other. Despite reductions, the price of 3D imaging systems remained a barrier to the use of 3D imaging for regular nutritional assessment in the health sector. Additional barriers in the health sector were that imaging systems required dedicated space and were not designed for capturing measurements in young children. In recent years, the development of light-coding technology may have removed these barriers, and a handheld imaging system was developed specifically for young children. There are not yet recommendations to replace manual equipment with 3D imaging for nutritional assessment, and there is a need for more research on low-cost, handheld imaging systems-particularly research that evaluates the ability of 3D imaging to improve the quality of anthropometric data and indicators.