Maternal Nutrition and Pregnancy Outcomes, Anthropometric Assessment (PAHO Scientific Publications)

The use of measurements to assess maternal nutritional status (anthropometric indicators) is essential to identifying women at risk of experiencing pregnancy complications and bearing growth-retarded infants.

This book consists of five parts, each of which discusses a different anthropometric indicator: pre-pregnancy weight, height, arm circumference, weight gain in pregnancy, and weight-for-height and body mass index. In each of the five parts, a background chapter, written in question-and-answer format, provides information on the indicator's current use, its relationship to other indicators, its reliability, averages, standards, and cut-off points for use in industrialized and developing countries. Additional chapters delve into issues specific to each indicator, and each part ends with a summary and recommendations for the indicator's use.

This publication will provide valuable guidelines to field personnel and researchers on the use of anthropometric indicators for predicting pregnancy outcomes.