Mid-upper arm circumference as a screening tool for identifying underweight adolescents.

Area of Science:

• Nutritional epidemiology
• Adolescent health
• Anthropometry

Background:

• Mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) offers a potential alternative to Body Mass Index (BMI) for assessing nutritional status.
• Underweight is a significant concern among adolescents, requiring effective screening methods.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the correlation between MUAC and BMI Z-score in Sudanese adolescents.
• To establish a reliable MUAC cut-off point for identifying underweight individuals (BMI Z-score < -2 SD).

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study was conducted in eastern Sudan involving 390 adolescents.
• Measurements included age, sex, weight, height, and MUAC.
• Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to determine the optimal MUAC cut-off for underweight detection.

Main Results:

• MUAC showed a positive correlation with BMI Z-score across all participants (r=0.534) and stratified by sex.
• 15.6% of adolescents were identified as underweight.
• The optimal MUAC cut-off for detecting underweight was ≤21.2 cm (sensitivity 82.0%, specificity 68.0%).

Conclusions:

• MUAC demonstrates good accuracy in identifying underweight adolescents.
• The established MUAC cut-off can be utilized for community-based screening programs in this population.