Previous studies on malnutrition. How long should the study last? How to test for attention span.
Interesting question: There are different forms of malnutrition and for each the indicators used are different. For Children under five years old, there is chronic malnutrition (stunting), underweight, and wasting (acute malnutrition) which are assessed using z-scores with respect to the number of standard deviations the child deviates from a standard population. You can look up WHO growth standards for this. But children can also be overweight for which the indicators are different (refer to WHO growth standards). For adults body mass index is used to classify the individual as underweight, overweight or obese. All the above are based on indicators that depend on measuring the weight and height of the individual and for children the age of the child is also important. Mid Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) of children under five years old can be used to rapidly assess the state of acute malnutrition especially in emergency situations. Protein-calorie malnutrition is also important in some settings. Another form of malnutrition is based on micronutrient deficiencies that an individual can present with. Examples of troublesome nutrients in low and middle income countries include, iron, zinc, vitamin A and iodine but there are many others. But it is also possible to have excesses of some micronutrients and macronutrients and this too would be a form of malnutrition. There are therefore different forms of malnutrition for which different types of indicators are used. If you read up on this you will find the situation can get even more complex that I have given above because of the number of nutrients that are known to be helpful for growth, development and health. And of cause it is possible for an individual to suffer from multiple forms of malnutrition.
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