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The use of armspan measurement to assess the nutritional status of adults in four Ethiopian ethnic groups

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 56, pages 91–95 (2002)Cite this article

Abstract

Objectives: To investigate the use of armspan as a proxy for height in the assessment of nutritional status using body mass index (BMI) for four ethnic groups in Ethiopia.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: Four regions in Ethiopia, namely Oromia, Amhara, Tigre and Somali Region.

Subjects: A total of 1706 (884 males and 822 females) Ethiopians aged 18–50 y from four different ethnic groups.

Methods: Anthropometric measurements (weight, height and armspan) were obtained using standard techniques. BMI using height (BMI-ht) and using armspan (BMI-as) were calculated, t-tests were used to compare means, and linear regression to investigate the relationship between BMI-ht and BMI-as.

Results: Ethnic and sex differences in the relationship between height and armspan, and their derived variables (BMI-ht and BMI-as), were found. Armspan and height (r=0.83–0.9), and BMI-ht and BMI-as (r=0.89–0.97), were highly correlated in all ethnic groups. BMI-as cut-offs equivalent to the conventional BMI-ht classification of chronic energy deficiency were similar in the Oromo, Amhara and Tigre, but substantially higher in the Somalis.

Conclusion: Armspan can be used as a proxy for height to estimate BMI, but the relationship between the two measures varies considerably with ethnicity and sex. Unless sex- and ethnicity-specific cut-offs are applied, the use of BMI-as using conventional cut-offs will overestimate the prevalence of underweight in these populations.

Sponsorship: HelpAge International.

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Notes

  1. The Somali Regional Health Bureau and the Disaster Prevention and Preparedness Bureau (DPPB); Tigray Regional Health Bureau; Gondar College and Jimma University (Research and Publication Office).

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Vanessa Tilstone and Abdhulhady Haji Mohammed from HelpAge International (Ethiopia) and all the field workers, without whose help this work would not have been possible. We are very grateful to all the subjects who willingly participated in the study.

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Author notes

  1. S Ismail: Guarantor: S Ismail.

  2. E de Lucia, F Lemma, F Tesfaye, T Demisse and S Ismail: Contributors: E de Lucia, F Lemma, F Tesfaye and T Demisse supervised data collection and entry in the four regions. S Ismail and E de Lucia designed the study, analysed data and wrote the paper.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Public Health Nutrition Unit, London, UK

    E de Lucia & S Ismail

  2. Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia

    F Lemma

  3. Community Health Department, Medical Faculty, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

    F Tesfaye

  4. Ethiopia Health and Nutrition Research Institute, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

    T Demisse

Authors
  1. E de Lucia
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  2. F Lemma
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  3. F Tesfaye
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  4. T Demisse
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  5. S Ismail
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to S Ismail.

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de Lucia, E., Lemma, F., Tesfaye, F. et al. The use of armspan measurement to assess the nutritional status of adults in four Ethiopian ethnic groups. Eur J Clin Nutr 56, 91–95 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1601289

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1601289

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