[Use of the calculation of anthropometric values with microprocessors for nutritional diagnosis]

The purpose of this work was to determine the possibility of establishing the most accurate nutritional diagnosis based on anthropometric information in school boys and girls (6 to 14 years), from Madrid (Spain). To carry out this work two well-trained anthropometrists obtained data of total and kneeling height, cephalic and thoracic circumference, and weight from an aleatory sample of 333 boys and girls who study at a national school in Madrid. The collected data presented and analyzed, served as a basis to calculate the fitting equations of each anthropometric variable according to age and sex, as well as some relation among them. Their use simplifies the obtention of the biometric reference values, and allows precise interpolations for concrete ages. All of these algorithms have been translated into BASIC sentences to facilitate its incorporation into any microprocessor. A first diagnostic pattern of the past and present nutritional history of children according to their age and sex, total and kneeling height and weight of each one of them is also presented. The BASIC program, necessary to incorporate it into computers, is included as well.