Open arm elbow crutches

                                             How do you use MUAC

Place the tape measure around the LEFT arm (the arm should be relaxed and hang down the side of the body).

Measure the MUAC while ensuring that the tape neither pinches the arm nor is left loose.

Read the measurement from the window of the tape or from the tape. Record the MUAC to the nearest 0.1 cm or 1mm.

MUAC is measured in adults and children, to the nearest 0.1 cm, using a flexible non stretch tape laid at the midpoint between the acromion and olecranon processes on the shoulder blade and the ulna, respectively, of the arm.

MUAC is a measure of the sum of the muscle and subcutaneous fat in the upper arm.

               Why do we measure MUAC

MUAC, is a measurement that allows health workers to quickly determine if a patient is acutely malnourished. PIH, as well as many other organizations, measures the circumference of a patient’s arm at the midpoint between his or her shoulder and elbow