SynthesisMaternal & child nutrition2014
The reliability of weight-for-length/height Z scores in children.
Synthesis in Maternal & child nutrition, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
29 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) measurement usage among children with disabilities: A systematic review.Nutrition and health · 2026Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Relationship between socioeconomic status and weight gain during infancy: The BeeBOFT study.PloS one · 2018Trial
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- Maternal Health and Sociodemographic Characteristics Influence Infant Growth to 24 Months in the Tunza Mwana Cohort: A Prospective Cohort Study.Maternal & child nutrition · 2026Article
- Maternal dyslipidemia in the first trimester and adverse pregnancy and offspring outcomes: based on the Tianjin birth cohort.Lipids in health and disease · 2025Article
- Malnutrition in infants aged under 6 months: prevalence and anthropometric assessment - analysis of 56 low- and middle-income country DHS datasets.BMJ global health · 2025Article
- Growth Characteristics at Time of Fontan Procedure and Their Association with Long-Term Outcomes.The Journal of pediatrics · 2025Article
- Nutritional status of children with neurodevelopmental disorders: a cross-sectional study at a tertiary-level hospital in northern Bangladesh.BMC nutrition · 2024Article
- Health Risk and Underweight.Nutrients · 2023Article
- Prognostic value of different anthropometric indices over different measurement intervals to predict mortality in 6-59-month-old children.Public health nutrition · 2023Article
- Prevalence and socioeconomic determinants of the double burden of malnutrition in mother-child pairs in Latin America and the Caribbean.BMJ nutrition, prevention & health · 2022Article
- Evaluating the role of breastfeeding peer supporters' intervention on the inpatient management of malnourished infants under 6 months in Kenyan public hospitals.International breastfeeding journal · 2022Article
- Anthropometric Indicators as Predictors of Mortality in Early Life Among Low Birthweight Indian Infants.Frontiers in nutrition · 2022Article
- Malnutrition in Infants Aged under 6 Months Attending Community Health Centres: A Cross Sectional Survey.Nutrients · 2021Article
- Diagnostic measures for severe acute malnutrition in Indian infants under 6 months of age: a secondary data analysis.BMC pediatrics · 2021Article
- Growth monitoring and mortality risk in low birthweight infants: a birth cohort study in Burkina Faso.Gates open research · 2021Article
- Socioeconomic inequalities in food insecurity and malnutrition among under-five children: within and between-group inequalities in Zimbabwe.BMC public health · 2020Article
- Introducing a drift and diffusion framework for childhood growth research.Gates open research · 2020Article
- Performance of mid-upper arm circumference to diagnose acute malnutrition in a cross-sectional community-based sample of children aged 6-24 months in Niger.Nutrition research and practice · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
Abstract
The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends weight-for-length/height (WFL/H), represented as a Z score for diagnosing acute malnutrition among children aged 0 to 60 months. Under controlled conditions, weight, height and length measurements have high degree of reliability. However, the reliability when combined into a WFL/H Z score, in all settings is unclear. We conducted a systematic review of published studies assessing the reliability of WFL/Hz on PubMed and Google scholar. Studies were included if they presented reliability scores for the derived index of WFL/Hz, for children under 5 years. Meta-analysis was conducted for a pooled estimate of reliability overall, and for children above and below 24 months old. Twenty six studies on reliability of anthropometry were identified but only three, all community-based studies, reported reliability scores for WFL/Hz. The overall pooled intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) estimate for WFL/Hz among children aged 0 to 60 months was 0.81 (95% CI 0.64 to 0.99). Among children aged less than 24 months the pooled ICC estimate from two studies was 0.72 (95% CI 0.67 to 0.77) while the estimate reported for children above 24 months from one study was 0.97 (95% CI 0.97 to 0.99). Although WFL/Hz is recommended for diagnosis of acute under nutrition among children below 5 years, information on its reliability in all settings is sparse. In community settings, reliability of WFL/Hz is considerably lower than for absolute measures of weight and length/height, especially in younger children. The reliability of WFL/Hz needs further evaluation.
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