Introduction
Anthropometric nutritional assessment involves physical measurements of weight,
height, and body compartments of fat and lean tissue. Measures of growth are
important in assessing continued development of infants, children, and
adolescents. Some measures such as height or head circumference reflect past or
chronic nutritional status while others, such as arm circumference or skinfold
thickness, tend to reflect present status.
This section describes measures of growth, body composition, and energy
expenditure. Energy expenditure provides estimates of energy use and needs.