Determination of bone width in malnourished children under 5, and its inter relationship with mid arm muscle thickness, subcutaneous fat thickness and the mid upper arm girth.

The mid upper arm of 516 malnourished children (one to five years) were studied radiographically for changes in bone width, muscle mass and subcutaneous fat, of malnutrition at different ages. The data was studied by statistical analysis, determining the correlation coefficients of each of the factors. The findings indicate that previous assumptions about the components and the changes of the mid upper arm girth (MUG) in chronic severe malnutrition, were perhaps too simplistic.