Want to get pregnant? first know the circumference of your upper arm & bull; hello healthy

Are you planning to get pregnant in the near future? Women who want to get pregnant must pay attention to several things such as their nutritional status and health status. Normal nutritional status is very important for women who want to get pregnant, because it reduces the possibility of complications during pregnancy. Even the nutritional status of a woman before pregnancy can determine the nutritional status of the child until he reaches adulthood.

However, nutritional status is not only measured by weighing and measuring height, it can also be known from the circumference of a person's upper arm, or what is often referred to as the LiLA measure.

Knowing the size of the upper arm circumference is important for those of you who want to get pregnant

LiLA measurement is a measurement method to take to determine nutritional status and whether a person has chronic energy deficiency (KEK) or not. Unlike body weight, which can change rapidly, a person's LiLA size takes a long time to change. Therefore, LiLA is used to measure past nutritional status.

LiLA is indeed more often performed on women of childbearing age and pregnant women. This is because LiLA is considered to be an efficient and effective measurement method to determine the risk of chronic energy deficiency which is more common in women, especially pregnant women.

Why is LiLA measurement important for women who want to get pregnant?

As previously mentioned, LiLA is a measure to determine the risk of KEK in a woman and pregnant woman. Chronic energy deficiency (KEK) is a nutritional problem caused by lack of food intake for a long time, a matter of years. The normal value limit set by the Indonesian Ministry of Health for LiLA measurement is 2.35 cm. If a woman or pregnant woman has a LiLA less than 23.5 cm, it is considered that her nutritional status is deficient and has KEK.

Meanwhile, if a pregnant woman experiences KEK, it will be bad for her and her fetus. Pregnant women who are KEK are at risk of experiencing various pregnancy complications such as miscarriage, not optimal fetal growth, difficulty during childbirth, birth defects, babies born with low body weight, and even infant death at birth.

Fat in the arms is needed by women if they want to get pregnant

LiLA measurements describe the muscle tissue and fat layer under the skin or subcutaneous fat on the woman's upper arm. Subcutaneous fat is fat that functions as an energy reserve in the body. When the energy obtained from sugar has run out, but the body still needs energy to carry out its body functions, the fat under the skin will be converted into sugar and then become the basic material for energy.

When a woman has a small upper arm circumference, this indicates that she does not have good fat reserves. Even though he really needs this fat reserve during pregnancy. The energy needed when a woman is pregnant increases than her pre-pregnancy needs. The presence of fat reserves in LiLA prevents pregnant women from experiencing a lack of energy.

Then, how do you measure LiLA?

Before planning a pregnancy, you should first know what circumference your upper arm is. You can find and measure the circumference of your upper arm yourself by using a tape measure - although it is better to use a special LiLA tape. To measure it, ask your partner or someone else to help you and do the following:

1. Decide which arm to measure. If you use your right hand as your dominant hand in doing daily activities, then the LiLA measurement is done on your left arm. Vice versa.
2. Then, bend your arms to form elbows. Measure the length of the upper arm, from the shoulder blade to the elbow. Then mark the midpoint of the length of the upper arm.
3. Loop the measuring tape at the specified center point, but not too tight or loosely around it.
4. Then read the numbers printed on the meter and you will know the size of your LiLA.

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