Nutritional Surveillance  
  
         Surveillance  - `Keeping  watch over’ 
  
     Nutritional Surveillance –  
     Keeping watch over activities and events that are 
     expected to have a direct or indirect effect on 
     nutritional status in order to detect at an early 
     stage those activities and events that could 
     precipitate the occurrence of malnutrition in the 
     population, so that appropriate measures can be 
     taken.  
                                                                                                      Nutritional Surveillance - Functions 
         
                                    Monitoring :- Implies routine collection and 
                                    evaluation, with as  wide a coverage as possible, 
                                    of measurements that reflect the nutritional status, 
                                    so that changes can be detected soon after they 
                                    occur and action taken (if necessary).  
         
                                    Detection of trends: Is concerned with change 
                                    over time. Used in planning and evaluation of long 
                                    term policies and programmes. 
        • Information from monitoring systems or periodic 
                                    surveys could be used. 
                                                                                      Nutritional Surveillance - Functions 
         
                                    Prediction: Forecasting probable deterioration 
                                    in nutritional status early enough for corrective 
                                    action to be taken.  
         
                                    Useful data: weather/ food production/ epidemic 
                                    diseases/ purchasing power etc.  
         
           Surveillance is carried out by regular or periodic  
                                    collection and evaluation of measurements that 
                                    can be used to indicate changes (present or 
                                    future) in nutritional status. 
         
           Nutritional Surveillance - Indicators 
  
     Indicators must be sensitive enough to detect 
     abnormal changes, yet they should not create false 
     alarms!. 
     Cut-off values and trigger levels of indicators are 
     important.  
  
     Cut off value: Critical limit or boundary of 
     acceptability. 
  
     Trigger level: proportion below the cut-off value 
     considered large enough to initiate action.