Table of contents:
- What is nutritional status?
- Various kinds of nutritional status
- For children under 5 years of age
- Less weight (underweight)
- Short (stunting)
- Skinny (wasting)
- Fat
- For children aged 5-18 years
- Short (stunting)
- Thin, fat and obese
- Adult (over 18 years)
Most of you probably only know that a person's body is fat, thin, and normal. However, beyond these three terms, WHO as a world health organization has classified a person's nutritional status based on height, weight and age.
What is nutritional status?
Everyone must have a dream for normal nutritional status, to have the ideal weight and height. Normal nutritional status indicates that you have a good health status. Normal nutritional status can lower your risk of developing disease.
Nutritional status is a health condition that is influenced by the intake and use of nutrients. When your nutritional intake meets your needs, then you will have a good nutritional status. However, when your nutritional intake is insufficient or excessive, this will cause an imbalance in your body.
Various kinds of nutritional status
Nutritional status is an indicator of a person's health. Therefore, you should know the nutritional status that you have, especially for your child because he is growing and developing. Sometimes a person has the wrong assumption of his nutritional status.
The following are some of the nutritional status that you need to pay attention to. Because if you have a nutritional status like the one below, then your risk of experiencing certain diseases will be greater than other individuals who have normal nutritional status. The nutritional status below is divided into three groups, namely for children under 5 years, children aged 5-18 years, and adults.
For children under 5 years of age
Indicators commonly used for children of this age are body weight for age (BW / U), height for age (TB / U), and weight for height (BW / U). These three indicators can show whether a child has a deficient, short nutritional status (stunting), thin (wasting), and obesity.
Less weight (underweight)
Underweight is a classification of the nutritional status of weight / age. BW / U shows the growth in the child's body weight for age, whether it is appropriate or not. If the child's weight is below the average age, it is said to be the child underweight. However, don't worry because your child's weight can always change easily. Thus, this indicator does not indicate serious nutritional problems in children.
Short (stunting)
Stunting is a classification of the nutritional status indicators of TB / age. Son said stunting is he who has a height not suitable for his age, usually he will be shorter than children his age. Stunting is the result of a lack of nutritional intake in the long term, so that children cannot catch up with their growth in height.
Skinny (wasting)
Wasting is one of the classifications of indicators of nutritional status of weight / height. Children who are said to be thin are those who have a low body weight that does not match their height. Wasting usually occurs in children during the weaning period or during the first 2 years of life. After the child is 2 years old, usually the risk he experiences wasting will decrease. Wasting is a sign that the child is severely malnourished, usually due to insufficient food intake or an infectious disease, such as diarrhea.
Fat
It is the opposite of wasting, which is obtained from measurements of body weight / height. Children who are said to be fat are those who weigh more than their height.
For children aged 5-18 years
Children aged 5-18 are still experiencing a lot of growth and development. You can find out the nutritional status of children aged 5-18 years using indicators of height / age and BMI / age.
Short (stunting)
Just like the explanation above, stunting obtained from the measurement of height for age. At the age of 5-18 years, the child's height continues to increase and the child can still catch up, even though there may be only a small chance of being able to reach a normal height.
Thin, fat and obese
Is a nutritional status that can be obtained from the measurement of BMI / U. BMI is a person's body mass index obtained from calculating body weight divided by height. Then, the BMI is adjusted to the age the child has. If the BMI of the child is lower than the average age, then the child is said to be thin. Conversely, if the BMI of the child is higher or very high compared to the average age, the child is said to have a nutritional status that is overweight or obese.
Adult (over 18 years)
Unlike children, to find out the nutritional status of adults, you only need to know your body mass index (BMI). BMI is an indicator of your body composition, such as body fat mass and other body composition apart from fat (such as bone and water).
You can find your BMI by dividing your weight (in kg) by your height (in m2). After you know your body mass index, then you will know your nutritional status as follows, which are classified into the following.
- Thin: if your BMI is less than 18.5 kg / m²
- Normal: if your BMI is between 18.5-24.9 kg / m²
- Overweight (overweight): if your BMI is between 25-27 kg / m²
- Obesity: if your BMI is more than 27 kg / m²
By knowing your BMI, you can tell if you are underweight, normal, or overweight. You can monitor your nutritional status by weighing them regularly.
By doing this, you can find out if you are under or over nourished. Because, these two things can have a bad impact on your health. Being underweight can increase your risk of developing infectious diseases, while being overweight can increase your risk of degenerative diseases, such as heart disease and type 2 diabetes mellitus.
