COMMUNITY NUTRITION 3 (1+2)

Lesson 4 : Clinical Assessment of Nutritional Status

Rapid clinical surveys

These are designed to detect the most characteristic signs of one or several nutritional deficiencies. They are of most value when the plane of community nutrition is low. They can be carried out by medical staff or by paramedical personnel, who have been specially selected and trained and are working under the supervision of a competent nutritionist. The data collected should be recorded on a special record form which lists the signs that are considered to be both particularly characteristic and easily identifiable during a field survey.

Rapid clinical survey include a.

A simple schedule -which elicit information about some of the important clinical symptoms, as shown below.

Hair:

1. Dyspigmentation
2. Easy pluckability.
3. Sparseness

Face:

1. Moon face

Eyes:

1. Bitot’s spots
2. Conjuctival xerosis
3. Pale conjunctiva

Mouth:

1. Angular stomatitis
2. Cheiolosis
3. Glossitis
4. Swollen bleeding gums

Thyroid gland

1. Goitre

Skin:

1. Oedema (bilateral)
2. Follicular hyper keratosis(type I)
3. Pellagrous dermitosis

Skeleton:

1. Epiphyseal enlargement(wrist)
2. Rickety rosary
3. Persistently open anterior fontanelle
4. Harrison’s sulecus
5. Bossing of skull
6. Knock –knees
7. Bow legs