Supplements to the RNIS Series of the UN Standing Committee on Nutrition (2000)

The Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance (FANTA) Project supported USAID-funded supplements to the Refugee Nutrition Information System's report on nutrition among displaced people in Sub-Saharan Africa. The following reports describe simple techniques suitable for the assessment of the nutritional status of adults 20 to 60 years of age and adolescents to 20 years of age.

Assessment of Nutritional Status of Adolescents in Emergency-Affected Populations

According to the UN Standing Committee on Nutrition's Assessment of Nutritional Status of Adolescents in Emergency-Affected Populations, more accurate identification of adolescent nutritional status relative to other vulnerable groups will yield both more effective distribution of relief food and valuable dietary opportunities among displaced and emergency-affected populations. The supplement suggests new methods for determining undernutrition cut-off points and proposes adjustments for ethnic differences with less regard for pubertal maturity and relative physical development. Download PDF [637 kb]

Assessment of Nutritional Status of Adults in Emergency-Affected Populations

According to the UN Standing Committee on Nutrition's Assessment of Nutritional Status of Adults in Emergency-Affected Populations, current World Health Organization standards for identifying undernutrition are inappropriate in this setting, leading to misdiagnosis and numbers of needless admissions to therapeutic feeding centers. Based on awareness of relevant social factors and situation-specific criteria, the supplement recommends interim measurement techniques that should be used until further research can be conducted.
Download PDF [301 kb]