guidelines for the integrated management of severe acute malnutrition

ACF-In Guidelines for the integrated management of SAM Annexes 153
5. CALCULATING THE WEIGHT/HEIGHT
How to use the weight/height ratio tables?
Example: a child boy is 67 cm tall and weighs 7.9 kg
� Take the boy table, look in the 1 st column and look for the figure 67 (=height).
� Take a ruler or a piece of card place it under the figure 67 and the other figures on the same line.
� On this line find the figure corresponding to the weight of the child, in this case 7.9 (=weight).
� Look to see what column this figure is in. In this case it is in the WEIGHT MEDIAN column. In this
example the child’s weight is normal in relation to his height. He therefore has an appropriate weight
for his height.
Example: a child is 78.5 cm tall and weighs 8.8 kg
This child is in the -2 SD column. He is too thin in relation to his height. He is moderately malnourished.
NOTE: It may be that the weight or the height is not a whole number.
Example: height 80.4 cm and weight 7.9 kg. These 2 figures are not in the table.
• For the height: The height measurement has to be rounded to the nearest 0.5cm, as it is in the following
example.
Height in cm
80.5cm is used for 80.6 and
80.7cm
81.0cm is used for 80.8,
80.9cm as well as 81.1 and
81.2 cm
80.0
80.1
80.2
80.3
80.4
80.5
80.6
80.7
80.8
80.9
81.0
81.1
81.2
80.0cm is used for 80.1 and
80.2cm
80.5cm is used for 80.3 and
80.4cm.
• For the weight: Looking at the table, for a height of 80.5 cm the weight is 9.6 kg. This is between 9.1 and
9.8 kg. Conclusion, to express the fact that the child is between these 2 weights, write down that this child’s
percentage is between -2 and -1 z-score or