ABSTRACT
The recognition that malnutrition is widespread in hospitals led to the appreciation that a precise definition of the features of malnutrition in its early stages and of methods to quantitate the nutritional status of the patient were lacking. Skinfold thickness techniques range from a simple measurement of skinfold thickness over the triceps midway between the shoulder and elbow, to a formal evaluation of body density by multiple skinfold measurement together with an estimate of body frame by the measurement of wrist size and waist circumference. Mid-Arm Circumference is estimated by measuring the circumference of the arm midway between the shoulder and elbow, and correcting the measurement for subcutaneous fat. Potassium is the principal intracellular cation and as such the total body potassium reflects the volume of intracellular water because the osmolarity of living cells is controlled within narrow limits. Total Body Nitrogen is measured by two different methods: prompt gamma emission and neutron activation.
