Length for age is an index of what?

• A. Wasting due to acute malnutrition
• B. Stunting due to chronic malnutrition
• C. Obesity risk
• D. Acute dehydration

Answer: (B)

Length-for-age measures how a child’s height compares to what’s typical for their age. When this measure is consistently low, it signals stunting, which reflects long-term or chronic undernutrition and prolonged exposure to adverse conditions. Height changes slowly, so length-for-age captures accumulated growth deficits over months or years rather than short-term shifts. This distinguishes it from wasting (acute malnutrition), which is assessed with weight-for-length/height, and from obesity risk or dehydration, which are not reflected by a child’s length-for-age. In young children, recumbent length is used; as children grow older, standing height is used to assess this index.