Questions about equipment

[agoxtinhoParticipant]

Hi to all!

I’m looking for opinions about equipment to plan a SMART survey in one Province of Angola. We’re supposed to have the support of the Ministry of Health, regarding equipment.

At the present moment, the Provincial Directorate of Health is using Salter weighing hanging scales and few electronic weighing scales which brand and model is EBSA-20 (http://www.made-in-china.com/showroom/tianhj/product-detailHfExJmQMUrLb/China-Baby-Scale-Ebsa-20-.html).

I really don’t think both equipment will give us reliable measuring of weight, thus I’d like to hear from your experiences with weighing equipment.

Looking at SECA webpage makes me overwhelmed with so much things…which product is better, considering price, portability and operation?

Looking forward for your comments.

Best,

Hugo

[SMARTKeymaster]

It is highly recommended to use digital scales for all SMART surveys. Some of the problems with salter scales are:
• require a lot more time to train how to use properly compared to digital scales.
• a lot more time to measure the child (set up salter, put child in weighing pants, measure).
• children are a lot more fuzzy when measured using a salter scale compared to a digital scale.
• must be re-calibrated after every use.
• *it is very difficult to have a child hang still long enough to record an accurate weight. Typically the weighing needle will shift from side to side and an estimate is taken.
• *The quality of results of surveys that use salter scales are rarely, if ever, as good as surveys that use digital scales to record weight.

Two of the most common SECA scales used in the field are model 874 and model 876. Both of these models are durable, relatively light, and have mother/child (tare) function. Model 874 also has the double display function which is convenient (although not necessary).

http://www.seca.com/en_us/products/all-products.html

The only two potential drawbacks to using SECA/digital scales are:

Cost: Digital scales are a lot more expensive than salter scales. However, if a SMART survey is to be conducted, high quality anthropometric equipment, including scales, should be budgeted for to help ensure high quality results (along with quality training). If proper care is taken, high quality digital scales will last longer than salter (hanging) scales.

Ground must be perfectly flat: When using digital scales, before a measurement is taken the scale must read 0.00. If the ground is not perfectly flat the scale could read 0.10 or 0.20 which is not acceptable. In areas where the ground is not perfectly flat (such as a dirt floor) teams can carry a thin piece of plywood that is approximately 5-10cm wider than the digital scale and place it under the scale to create a flat surface.

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