Development of a body condition scoring system for nonhuman primates using Macaca mulatta as a model.

The nutritional status of individual monkeys in research projects is an important yet sometimes overlooked variable that complicates the interpretation of research findings. The authors offer a framework for scoring fatness and muscularity in a semiquantitative manner without special equipment and in a way that could easily be accomplished during a routine physical examination. Body condition scoring can be used to assess the health of individual animals as well as determine nutritional adequacy within groups of animals.