Prevalence of undernutrition and risk factors of severe undernutrition among children admitted to Bugando Medical Centre in Mwanza, Tanzania

Abstract

Background: Malnutrition is a major public health problem in developing countries including Tanzania, contributing up to 50 % of under-five mortality. East Africa region was among the three United Nations (UN) subregions with the highest prevalence of stunting in 2011. In resource limited countries, the available little resources in hospitals are likely to be used focusing the primary clinical problem that led to admission of children leaving moderate and mild malnutrion unattended. This work was conducted to determine the prevalence of under-nutrition and risk factors associated with severe malnutrition among undernourished children aged 6-60 months admitted to Bugando Medical Centre (BMC) paediatric wards. Method: This was a hospital-based cross sectional study where by 720 children were screened in order to determine their nutritional status. Data were collected through measurement of weight/length or height, mid upper arm circumference (MUAC) and interpretation was done using Z-score (mild malnutrition ≤1SD, moderate malnutrition ≤2SD and severe malnutrition ≤3SD). The socio-demographic data were obtained using a questionnaire that was completed by interviewing children's parents/caregiver. Results: Out of 720 screened children, 402 (55.8 %) were undernourished. Severe malnutrition was found in 178 (24.7 %) children and among these 97 (54.5 %) had marasmus. Risk factors associated with severe malnutrition were children with age less than 2 years, lack of vaccination, taking unbalanced diet, low maternal education and single parent, with p-value (<0.001, < 0.001, <0.001, 0.02, < 0.001) respectively. Conclusion: This study show a high prevalence of malnutrition in hospitalized children and the majority was marasmic. The risk factors associated with severe malnutrition were described. We recommend improving the screening for undernutrition in all admitted patients so that proper management of this problem can be done concurrently with the primary clinical disease that led to admission.

The burden and correlates of childhood undernutrition in Tanzania according to composite index of anthropometric failure

“…Children in the youngest age group of 0-6 months had a signi cantly lower risk of failure than in older age groups of above 6 months. These results are consistent with many other studies from other countries [15,24] as well as in Tanzania [2,22,23]. This may be because of either poor feeding practice of the older children, or sometimes vulnerability to diseases when a child grows from 6 months onwards.…”

“…According to the UNICEF conceptual framework [21], undernutrition can be caused by insu cient diet intake, infections, poor breastfeeding or inadequate complementary foods. To date, numerous studies have been conducted to examine the determinants of undernutrition in Tanzania [2,[22][23][24] and elsewhere [15,17,[25][26][27]. However, available studies in the country have used conventional indices, rather than aggregated indicator of CIAF.…”

The burden and correlates of childhood undernutrition in Tanzania according to composite index of anthropometric failure

“…According to the UNICEF conceptual framework [21], undernutrition can be caused by insufficient diet intake, infections, poor breastfeeding or inadequate complementary foods. To date, numerous studies have been conducted to examine the determinants of undernutrition in Tanzania [4,[22][23][24] and elsewhere [15,17,[25][26][27]. However, available studies in the country have used conventional indices, rather than aggregated indicator of CIAF.…”

Nutritional status and association of demographic characteristics with malnutrition among children less than 24 months in Kwale County, Kenya

“…The likelihood of having severe malnourishment in children is related to social economic and social demographic characteristics. For instance, children with single parents or parents who have lower education level are more likely to be malnourished than children with both parents and parents who have a higher education level [ 7 ].…”