Clinical characteristics and evolution of acutely malnourished children

Abstract

Malnutrition is the set of clinical manifestations and anthropometric and biochemical alterations caused by an inadequate intake or the incorrect biological utilization (or both) of macro and micronutrients, causing that the nutritional requirements are not met. A prospective observational study was conducted from September 1 to November 30, 2010 in patients with acute malnutrition who were admitted to the Pediatric Department of the Dr. Antonio Penados del Barrio Hospital, in San Benito, Peten, Guatemala. The objective was to describe the clinical characteristics and evolution of acutely malnourished children. The study included all patients who met the criteria for acute, moderate or severe malnutrition. Of them, 62.5% were admitted with a weight-height index, as measured by the Z-score, of less than -3 (severe acute malnutrition), and 37.5% had a Z-score between -2 and -3 (moderate acute malnutrition); 75% of children were discharged alive with a normal nutritional status. Marasmic kwashiorkor was the most frequently clinical form of severe malnutrition observed in children between one and two years of age, without showing an incidence linked to gender. Pallor, anemia, glossitis, cheilitis and diarrhea were signs frequently observed at admission. The low educational level of the parents, the low per capita income, food taboos and mother's age (under 18) are conditions likely to favor the development of acute malnutrition; and it is after the sixth day of admission that the weight gain of children progressing to nutritional recovery becomes evident.