Question

Regarding the ABCD Method of Nutrition Assessment, when might the assessment of body mass index (BMI) be problematic? When might assessments of dietary intake by registered dietitians be problematic?.

How beneficial do you think that phytochemicals and zoochemicals are, whether in their source functional food or added to another food (different that fortifying a food with a nutrient), or even in a pill as a supplement?.

Answer 1

Nutritional assessment can be done using the ABCD methods. These refer to the following:

A.Anthropometry

B.Biochemical/biophysical methods

C.Clinical methods

D.Dietary methods.

Body Mass Index (BMI) is the weight of a person in kilograms divided by their height in metres squared. A non-pregnant adult is considered to have a normal BMI when it falls between 18.5 and 25 kg/m shows you the different categories of nutritional status based on a person’s BMI. Cut-off values for BMI for assessing adult nutritional status.

BMI(Kg/m2) cut-offsNutritional status

more than 40.0Very obese

30.0-40.0Obese

25-29.9Overweight

18.5-24.9Normal

17-18.49Mild chronic energy deficiency

16-16.9Moderate chronic energy deficiency

less than 16.0Severe chronic energy deficiency

If an adult person has a BMI of less than 16 kg/m2 they will not be able to do much physical work because they will have very poor energy stores. In addition they will be at increased risk of infection due to impaired immunity.

Risk of mortality and morbidity is related to the nutritional status as assessed by the BMI. If people are too fat or too thin their health suffers. The risk of mortality and morbidity increases with a decrease in the BMI. Similarly, when the BMI increases to over 25 kg/m2, the risk of mortality and morbidity increases.

If a person consumes any examples of the food type from each of the six groups in 24 hours, we can say that their dietary diversity score is six. Dietary diversity score is an indicator of both the balance of nutrient consumption and the level of food security (or insecurity) in the household. The higher the dietary diversity score in a family, the more diversified and balanced the diet is and the more food-secure the household.

As part of the dietary assessment you should also check the salt iodine level of households using the single solution kit (SSK). This enables you to determine whether the salt iodine level is 0, more than 15 parts per million (PPM) or less than 15 PPM. You can see a photo of an SSK in Normally, an iodized salt should have iodine level of more than 15 PPM to be effective in preventing iodine deficiency and its consequences. As a Level IV Health Extension Practitioner you are expected to test the iodine level of household salts twice a year.

Foods rich in phytochemicals include apples, apricots, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, garlic, legumes, onions, red peppers, soybeans, sweet potatoes, and tomatoes.Fruit and vegetables contain a wide variety of antioxidant compounds (phytochemicals) such as phenolics and carotenoids that may help protect cellular systems from oxidative damage and lower the risk of chronic diseases.

Zoochemicals are the animal equivalent of phytochemicals in plants. They are compounds in animals that are believed to provide health benefits beyond the traditional nutrients that food contains.Zoochemicals are natural chemicals found in animal-based foods. A couple of examples areomega-3 fatty acid, obtained from eating fatty fish, and conjugated linoleic acid, or CLA, found in beef and dairy products.