Management of children with severe acute malnutrition a national priority.

651 VOLUME 47__AUGUST 17, 2010 Severe acute malnutrition (SAM) among children below five years of age remains a major embarrassment, and impediment to optimal human capital development in India. The World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Children’s Fund proposed diagnostic criteria for severe acute malnutrition in children aged 6 to 60 months include any of the following: (i) weight for height below –3 standard deviation (SD or Z scores) of the median WHO growth reference (2006); (ii) visible severe wasting; (iii) presence of bipedal edema; and (iv) mid upper arm circumference below 115 mm(1). The Indian Academy of Pediatrics recommended diagnostic criteria (2007), adapted from the earlier WHO guidelines, are weight for height/length below 70% or ≤3SD of NCHS median and/or visible severe wasting and/or bipedal edema; mid upper arm circumference criteria may also be used for identifying severe wasting(2).