Standard anthropometric techniques may be unreliable in patients with subcutaneous edema or dehydration. In order to circumvent this dilemma, 98 male subjects were studied utilizing a hand-held dynamometer in conjunction with other nutritional assessment techniques. Following a nutritional assessment using anthropometric measurements, patients were characterized as being well-nourished or malnourished using three definitive measures: percentage of ideal body weight, triceps skinfold, and midarm muscle circumference. Once malnutrition was assessed, no attempt was made to distinguish between marasmus, hypoalbuminemia, or mixed marasmus types of malnutrition. A correlation matrix done between the two groups revealed no statistically significant correlation between any of the measured parameters. Analysis of variance revealed statistically significant correlations between patients in both groups (independent variables) with respect to midarm muscle circumference and dynamometer reading in the dominant arm (dependent variables). Further validation of this technique is required before it can become a standard component of nutritional assessment.