Background: Growth faltering is a frequent public health problem in
children and anthropometric measurements are useful tools for follow-up
and early diagnosis. This problem has not been studied in the
Cameroonian setting, that's why we undertook this study. Objectives:
To have a synopsis of the nutritional status in apparently healthy
children attending a vaccination clinic and show the importance of
anthropometric measurements in routine child health care. Design: A
retrospective study. Patients and Participants: 1351 children aged
(6-24months), who attended the vaccination clinic of the Yaounde
Gynaeco-Obstetric and Pediatric Hospital over a 6 month period, were
enrolled in the study. Method: The registers of the vaccination
clinic of the above hospital were retrospectively reviewed from 1st
March to 31st August 2005. The following parameters were noted: age,
height, weight, mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC), and Z scores
calculated for the following indicators: weight for age (WAZ), weight
for height (WHZ), and height for age (HAZ). Results: Our results show
that 12 children (1.1percent) in the 0-6 months age group and 4 (1.6
percent) in the 6-12 months age group had WAZ less than -2 indicating
underweight. Also 10 children (0.9 percent) and 2 (0.8 percent) in the
0-6 and 6-12 months age groups respectively had WHZ less than -2,
indicating wasting. HAZ was less than -2 in 70 children (6.4 percent)
and in 8 (3.2 percent) in the 0-6 and 6-12 months age groups
respectively indicating stunting. The MUAC was less than 12.5 cm in 6
children (2.4 percent). Conclusions: From our results, we conclude
that growth faltering is common in supposedly healthy children
attending our vaccination clinic. Anthropometric measurements are thus
recommended and should be encouraged in routine child care settings for
early diagnosis of growth retardation and to provide useful
interventions
