Perspective: Are We Ready to Measure Child Nutritional Status with Lasers?

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Joel Conkle, Emory University; Reynaldo Martorell, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2019-02-05
• Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP): ASN
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2019 American Society for Nutrition. All rights reserved.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/advances/nmy053
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Advances in Nutrition
• ISSN: 2161-8313
• Volume: 10
• Issue: suppl_1
• Start Page: S10
• End Page: S16
• Grant/Funding Information: Publication costs for this supplement were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This publication must therefore be hereby marked “advertisement” in accordance with 18 USC section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.; The International Union of Nutritional Sciences (IUNS) thanks Mead Johnson Nutrition and Herbalife Nutrition for generously providing grants to support the publication and distribution of the present supplement from the 21st International Union of Nutritional Sciences.
• Keywords: development; body composition; nutritional surveillance; child growth; nutritional assessment; anthropometry
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Human Development; Health Sciences, Nutrition

Abstract

The continued use of basic, manual anthropometric tools (e.g., boards and tapes) leaves anthropometry susceptible to human error. A potential solution, 3-dimensional (3D) imaging systems for anthropometry, has been around since the 1950s. In the 1980s, 3D imaging technology advanced from photographs to the use of lasers for body digitization; and by the 2000s, the falling price of 3D scannersmade commercial application feasible. The garment sector quickly adopted imaging technology for surveys because of the need for numerous measurements and large sample sizes. In the health sector, 3D imaging for anthropometrywas notwidely adopted; its usewas limited to research and specialized purposes. The different cost and logistical requirements for measurement in the garment and health sectors help to explain why the technology was adopted in one sector and not the other. Despite reductions, the price of 3D imaging systems remained a barrier to the use of 3D imaging for regular nutritional assessment in the health sector. Additional barriers in the health sector were that imaging systems required dedicated space and were not designed for capturing measurements in young children. In recent years, the development of light-coding technology may have removed these barriers, and a handheld imaging systemwas developed specifically for young children. There are not yet recommendations to replacemanual equipment with 3D imaging for nutritional assessment, and there is a need for more research on low-cost, handheld imaging systems - particularly research that evaluates the ability of 3D imaging to improve the quality of anthropometric data and indicators.