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Aim: Growth reference values about mid‐upper arm circumference (MUAC) are vital for assessing children's nutritional status. However, Pakistan lacks these reference values and growth charts. This study aims to develop these for children aged 6–60 months and compare them with global standards. Methods: The data were acquired from the 2018 National Nutrition Survey of Pakistan, which was conducted by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) during 2018–2019. The final study cohort comprised 57 285 children, with 51% being boys. Percentile values and charts for MUAC‐for‐age were developed using generalised additive models for location, scale and shape with the Box–Cox power exponential distribution. Results: The mean MUAC was 14.21 cm (±2.07 cm) and 14.13 cm (±2.12 cm) for the boys and girls, respectively. At 60 months of age, the P3 and P97 percentiles for girls were slightly higher than those for boys. The median percentiles of Pakistani children were smaller than the World Health Organisation 2007 standards and with international references. Conclusion: We observed disparities in MUAC‐for‐age growth references among Pakistani children compared to global standards, highlighting regional, age and gender variations. This underscores the need for developing countries like Pakistan to establish their growth references. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Immigrants and ethnic minorities have been shown to be at increased risk of hospitalization from COVID-19. Our aim was to analyse the contribution of socioeconomic and demographic risk factors on hospital admissions for COVID-19 among immigrants and ethnic minorities compared to the majority population. Methods We used nationwide register data on all hospitalized COVID-19 cases between February and June 2020 (N  = 2232) and random controls from the general population (N  = 498 117). We performed logistic regression analyses and adjusted for age, sex, comorbidity, and socioeconomic and demographic factors. The main outcome measure was hospitalization with COVID-19 and was estimated using odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). Results Among 2232 COVID-19 cases, the OR of hospitalization with COVID-19 among immigrants and descendants of non-Western origin was 2.5 times higher (95% CI: 2.23–2.89) compared with individuals of Danish origin with most pronounced results among individuals from Iraq, Morocco, Pakistan and Somalia. The OR was largely attributed to comorbidity and socioeconomic factors, especially household size, occupation, and population density. Conclusion There is a significantly higher OR of hospitalization with COVID-19 among non-Western immigrants and ethnic minorities compared with ethnic Danes. This knowledge is crucial for health policymakers and practitioners in both the current and future pandemics to identify more vulnerable groups and target prevention initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]