Mid-upper arm circumference for identifying adult overweight in large-scale population-based surveys: empirical evaluation using data of the EAT Addis study, Ethiopia

Objectives The present study evaluates body circumferences as a nutrition screening tool for women of reproductive age with children less than 5 years of age to improve the detection of overweight and obesity in a community setting.Design This study draws data from a community-based cross-sectional...

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Main Authors: Alemayehu Worku, Yemane Berhane, Eva-Charlotte Ekstrom, Katarina Selling, Tigest Shifraw, Hanna Yemane Berhane
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMJ Publishing Group 2021-12-01
Series:BMJ Open
Online Access:https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/11/12/e049602.full
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author Alemayehu Worku
Yemane Berhane
Eva-Charlotte Ekstrom
Katarina Selling
Tigest Shifraw
Hanna Yemane Berhane
author_facet Alemayehu Worku
Yemane Berhane
Eva-Charlotte Ekstrom
Katarina Selling
Tigest Shifraw
Hanna Yemane Berhane
author_sort Alemayehu Worku
collection DOAJ
description Objectives The present study evaluates body circumferences as a nutrition screening tool for women of reproductive age with children less than 5 years of age to improve the detection of overweight and obesity in a community setting.Design This study draws data from a community-based cross-sectional study conducted between July–August 2017 and January–February 2018 to account for seasonality in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.Setting One hundred and sixteen districts were included in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.Participants A total of 4914 women of reproductive age with children less than 5 years of age were participated in this study.Primary and secondary outcome measures Primary outcome measures included anthropometric indices. There were no secondary outcomes.Results The optimal cut-off points to identify overweight women of reproductive age were >87.5 cm for waist circumference (WC), >31.7 cm for neck circumference (NC) and >28.0 cm for mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) based on the highest corresponding Youden index. The area under the receiver operating characteristics curve was 0.92 (95% CI: 0.91 to 0.93) for WC, 0.83 (95% CI: 0.82 to 0.84) for NC and 0.91 (95% CI: 0.89 to 0.92) for MUAC.Conclusions Our result shows that WC and MUAC are alternative tools to body mass index. Both WC and MUAC are effective in identifying overweight women. We recommend using MUAC in large-scale population-based assessments to identify overweight and obesity in low-income settings as it is logistically simpler and operationally feasible.
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spelling doaj-art-b543e86fda944049a073a5c036ad2e532025-08-20T02:31:20ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Open2044-60552021-12-01111210.1136/bmjopen-2021-049602Mid-upper arm circumference for identifying adult overweight in large-scale population-based surveys: empirical evaluation using data of the EAT Addis study, EthiopiaAlemayehu Worku0Yemane Berhane1Eva-Charlotte Ekstrom2Katarina Selling3Tigest Shifraw4Hanna Yemane Berhane5Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and Department of Reproductive Health and Population, Addis Continental Institute of Public Health, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia4 Department of Epidemiology, Addis Continental Institute of Public Health, Addis Ababa, EthiopiaDepartment of Women’s and Children’s Health, International Maternal and Child Health, Uppsala University, Uppsala, SwedenDepartment of Women’s and Children’s Health, International Maternal and Child Health, Uppsala University, Uppsala, SwedenAddis Continental Institute of Public Health, Addis Ababa, EthiopiaAddis Continental Institute of Public Health, Addis Ababa, EthiopiaObjectives The present study evaluates body circumferences as a nutrition screening tool for women of reproductive age with children less than 5 years of age to improve the detection of overweight and obesity in a community setting.Design This study draws data from a community-based cross-sectional study conducted between July–August 2017 and January–February 2018 to account for seasonality in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.Setting One hundred and sixteen districts were included in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.Participants A total of 4914 women of reproductive age with children less than 5 years of age were participated in this study.Primary and secondary outcome measures Primary outcome measures included anthropometric indices. There were no secondary outcomes.Results The optimal cut-off points to identify overweight women of reproductive age were >87.5 cm for waist circumference (WC), >31.7 cm for neck circumference (NC) and >28.0 cm for mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) based on the highest corresponding Youden index. The area under the receiver operating characteristics curve was 0.92 (95% CI: 0.91 to 0.93) for WC, 0.83 (95% CI: 0.82 to 0.84) for NC and 0.91 (95% CI: 0.89 to 0.92) for MUAC.Conclusions Our result shows that WC and MUAC are alternative tools to body mass index. Both WC and MUAC are effective in identifying overweight women. We recommend using MUAC in large-scale population-based assessments to identify overweight and obesity in low-income settings as it is logistically simpler and operationally feasible.https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/11/12/e049602.full
spellingShingle Alemayehu Worku
Yemane Berhane
Eva-Charlotte Ekstrom
Katarina Selling
Tigest Shifraw
Hanna Yemane Berhane
Mid-upper arm circumference for identifying adult overweight in large-scale population-based surveys: empirical evaluation using data of the EAT Addis study, Ethiopia
BMJ Open
title Mid-upper arm circumference for identifying adult overweight in large-scale population-based surveys: empirical evaluation using data of the EAT Addis study, Ethiopia
title_full Mid-upper arm circumference for identifying adult overweight in large-scale population-based surveys: empirical evaluation using data of the EAT Addis study, Ethiopia
title_fullStr Mid-upper arm circumference for identifying adult overweight in large-scale population-based surveys: empirical evaluation using data of the EAT Addis study, Ethiopia
title_full_unstemmed Mid-upper arm circumference for identifying adult overweight in large-scale population-based surveys: empirical evaluation using data of the EAT Addis study, Ethiopia
title_short Mid-upper arm circumference for identifying adult overweight in large-scale population-based surveys: empirical evaluation using data of the EAT Addis study, Ethiopia
title_sort mid upper arm circumference for identifying adult overweight in large scale population based surveys empirical evaluation using data of the eat addis study ethiopia
url https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/11/12/e049602.full
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