Introduction

Rapid nutrition surveys are to be carried out for the baseline survey, mid-term review and the completion evaluation of the project. The key indicator of project impact will be the reduction of chronic malnutrition ('stunting' or 'height for age') among children less than 5 years of age. Other important indicators will be acute malnutrition ('wasting' or 'height for age') and underweight ('weight for age').

Anthropometry is the process of weighing and measuring children. Four pieces of information are necessary for each child: (i) age in months, (ii) gender, (iii) height in centimetres and (iv) weight in kilograms.

Methodology 

The survey team will be visiting approximately 30 communities (clusters) during the fieldwork. In each cluster, roughly 15-30 households will be surveyed. To select the households, the team will use what is called the 'random walk' methodology. This involves the following steps:

• Start at the market area of the cluster. If there is no market, start at the church/mosque/temple.

• Spin a pen or pencil in the air and let it fall on the ground. Begin walking in the direction indicated by the point of the pen/pencil (See Figure No. 1: Starting Point for a "Random Walk".)

• Count the number of households between the starting point and the boundary of the community. (In the example, there are 11 households.)

• Select a random number (between 1 and 11). To select the random number, it is usually best to write the numbers on pieces of paper, mix the pieces together, then pull one out of the pile. (In the example, the number 11 has been randomly selected.)

• Begin the random walk at the household that matches the random number (household no. 11 in the example).

• Walk to the next closest household. (See Figure No. 2: Selecting the Households).

• Whenever it seems that two households are the same distance away, flip a coin to decide between the two.

• Continue the process until you have visited the required number of households (15 households in the example

In this example, the survey team begins at the market and walks in the direction indicated by the arrow. The team counts 11 households before reaching the boundary of the village.

Figure No. 1: Starting Point for a "Random Walk"

The survey team then randomly selects a number between 1 and 11. In this example, the random number is 11; so household number 11 becomes the starting point.

Figure No. 2: Selecting the Households

The team proceeds to the next closest household and continues on in this way until 15 households have been surveyed.