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Undernutrition of Children in Massachusetts^1,2,

New England Medical Center, Pediatric Gastroenterology/Nutrition, Boston, MA 02111

Over the past 10 years, seven separate studies of children at risk from undernutrition in Massachusetts have been performed. The surveys have ranged from a statewide health center-based investigation to a house-to-house survey in a public housing project. All included children between 1 and 6 years of age. Chronic undernutrition was defined as a height-for-age less than the 5th percentile of the National Center for Health Statistics growth charts, and acute undernutrition was defined as a weight-for-height less than the 5th percentile. The prevalence of chronic undernutrition was greater than expected in four surveys, whereas no acute undernutrition was observed. The prevalence of obesity, defined as a weight for height greater than the 95th percentile, was increased in four of the seven surveys. These data suggest that chronic undernutrition is increased among children at risk in Massachusetts.

KEY WORDS: • undernutrition • children • weight-for-height • height-for-age • poverty

¹ Presented as part of the "Symposium on the Identification and Prevalence of Undernutrition in the United States" during the joint meeting of the American Institute of Nutrition and the American Society for Clinical Nutrition held in conjunction with the 73rd Annual Meeting of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, New Orleans, LA, March 20, 1989. Supported in part by cooperative agreement HPU 880004-02-1 with the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Public Health Service, Department of Health and Human Services.

² Guest editors for this symposium were William H. Dietz, New England Medical Center, Boston, MA, and Frederick L. Trowbridge, Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta, GA.

Manuscript received 6 December 1989. Revision accepted 6 April 1990.

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