Development of a real-time automated nutritional assessment system for children under five years of age

In Peru, 2 out of 10 children under five suffer from chronic malnutrition, negatively impacting their growth and development in later life. Timely diagnosis through nutritional status screening and monitoring are paramount; however, they are not routinely done and are subject to measurement errors. A novel body measurement data capture system, based on the use of mobile technologies and image processing, will allow on-site capture of body images of children for automated nutritional status assessment. This system will allow the electronic transmission, storage, analysis and real-time dissemination of nutritional status. This concept is leveraging the high penetration rate of mobile technologies. Furthermore, an intuitive, friendly and easy-to-use mobile and web application will enable use by the community. This project is funded under a collaborative agreement between CONCYTEC (Peru’s National Council for Science, Technology and Technological Innovation) and Grand Challenges Canada (funded by the Government of Canada) to support Stars in Global Health innovators based in Peru.