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Prevalence of Malnutrition among Hospitalized Children

Article · June 2014

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 International Journal of Nursing Education and Research 2(3): July- September 2014

www.anvpublication.org ISSN-2347–8640

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Prevalence of Malnutrition among Hospitalized Children

Samundeeswari Mourougan1, Gothainayagi. A2, Prof. G. Muthamilselvi3*
1
Lecturer, Dept. of Pediatrics, Vinayaka Missions College of Nursing, Kiumampakkam, Puducherry.
2
Lecturer, Dept. of Nutrition, Vinayaka Missions College of Nursing, Kiumampakkam, Puducherry
3
Principal, Dept. of OBG, Vinayaka Missions College of Nursing, Kiumampakkam, Puducherry.
*Corresponding Author Email: samu_mourougan@yahoo.co.in

ABSTRACT:
Malnutrition is the most wide spread condition affecting the health of children. Scarcity of suitable food, lack of
purchasing power of the family as well as traditional beliefs and taboos about what the baby should eat often lead to
insufficient balanced diet, resulting in deficiency disorders and malnutrition. The World Health Organization (WHO)
estimates that about 60% of all deaths, occurring among children aged less than five years in developing countries,
could be attributed to malnutrition. PEM is also associated with a number of co-morbidities such as lower respiratory
tract infections including tuberculosis, diarrhoea diseases, malaria and anaemia. Hence, the present study investigated
about the prevalence of malnutrition among hospitalized children and it was found that 54.4% of the samples were
suffering from Grade I malnutrition, 23.3% of samples were in Grade II malnutrition, and only 10% of the samples
were suffering Grade III malnutrition. Of the total samples 12.2% of them belong to normal. Association between
selected demographic variables with malnutrition was determined and it was found that only age and income of the
family had the association with malnutrition at 0.05 level of significance.

KEY WORDS: Prevalence, Malnutrition, under five children, Hospitalized, Association.

INTRODUCTION : It is generally accepted that children who are underweight

“Health is Wealth” healthy children can make wealthy or stunted are at greater risk for childhood morbidity and
nation. Child health depends on consumption of food with mortality, poor physical and mental development, inferior
adequate calories and all nutrients, which are essentials for school performance and reduced adult size capacity for
the growth and development of the children. work (NFHS- 3).

The period from birth to two years of age is important for
optimal growth, health and development. At this age
children are particularly vulnerable to growth retardation,
micronutrient deficiencies and common childhood illnesses
such as diarrhoea and acute respiratory infections. Protein
energy malnutrition weakens immune response and
aggravates the effects of infection and so children who are
malnourished tend to have more severe diarrheal episodes
and are at a higher risk of pneumonia.
Received on 23.05.2014 Modified on 11.06.2014
Accepted on 22.06.2014 © A&V Publication all right reserved
Int. J. Nur. Edu. and Research 2(3): July- Sept. 2014; Page 189-191
189
Malnutrition is the most wide spread condition affecting the
health of children. Scarcity of suitable food, lack of
purchasing power of the family as well as traditional beliefs
and taboos about what the baby should eat often lead to
insufficient balanced diet, resulting in deficiency disorders
and malnutrition (Padmavathy 2011).
NEED FOR THE STUDY:
Recent UNICEF report is malnutrition kills 5 million
children every year and one child kills every 6 seconds.
Globally, PEM continues to be a major health burden in
developing countries and the most important risk factor for
illnesses and death especially among young children. The
World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that about
60% of all deaths, occurring among children aged less than
five years in developing countries, could be attributed to
 International Journal of Nursing Education and Research 2(3): July- September 2014

malnutrition. PEM is also associated with a number of co- METHODOLOGY:

morbidities such as lower respiratory tract infections Research approach and design:
including tuberculosis, diarrhoea diseases, malaria Quantitative approach with survey design
andanaemia (Ubesia et.al.2012).
Setting of the study:
The third National Family Health Survey estimated that The study was conducted in selected hospitals in
45.9% of Indian children and 33.2% of children in Tamil Puducherry
Nadu below 3 years of age are under weight. Mild to
moderate malnutrition has been associated with an Population:
increased risk of childhood mortality (Singh et.al.2010).The Children aged between 1 month and 18 years
National Family Health Survey data of 2008 show a similar
trend: Almost one-third (31 per cent) of children under age Sample:
five in Tamilnadu are stunted, or too short for their age, Children who are hospitalized during the data collection
which indicates that they have been undernourished for period
some time; 22 % are wasted, or too thin for their height,
which may result from inadequate recent food intake or Sample size:
recent illness and 30 per cent are underweight, which takes 90 children
into account both chronic and acute under nutrition. The
effects of such acute and chronic under nutrition are well Sampling technique:
established for increased mortality, poor cognitive and Convenient sampling technique
motor development and other impairments in function as
fallout of under nutrition, show Dr Stuart Gillespie and Dr Methods of data collection:
Lawrence J Haddad of IFPRI in their book The Double Observation and interview method
Burden of Malnutrition: Causes, Consequences and
Solution. “Children who have been severely Plan for data analysis:
undernourished in early childhood suffer a later reduction Descriptive and inferential statistics used to analyse the
in IQ by as many as 15 points (Martorell 1996), collected data
significantly affecting schooling achievement and
increasing the risks of drop-out or repeat grades”.(Krithika DESCRIPTION OF THE RESEARCH TOOL:
Ramalingam21 June 2009). Part-I: It includes the demographic variables of the
children such as age, sex, income, birth order of the child,
From the above reports it was clearly understood that educational level of the mother and father, occupation of the
protein energy malnutrition is most prevalence among father and mother , type of family, place of residency.
under-five children in India, which enhances the mortality Part- II: Assessment of the children nutritional status
and morbidity. So, the researcher is interested in
identifying the malnourished children and treats the RESULTS AND DISCUSSION:
malnourished children with a nutritional intervention Majority of the samples were belongs to toddler age
programme. (37.8%), of them 54.4% belongs male gender. Highest
percentage of samples’ father education was 64.4% at high
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM: school level, most of them were daily wages (36.7%) and
Assess the prevalence of malnutrition among hospitalized their mothers’ education were 53.3% at high school level
children in selected hospitals, Puducherry 87.8% of them were home makers. 46.7% of samples
monthly income was <Rs.5000 were as only 11.1% were
OBJECTIVES: above >Rs.15, 000. Among the total samples 56.7%
 To assess the nutritional status of the children who are belongs to urban and the rest of them (43.3%) were from
hospitalized rural area which is comparable with Rajini et.al 2010, she
 To find out the association between the nutritional was found that the prevalence of malnutrition in urban
status and selected demographic variables slums of Hyderabad was 69%. Highest birth orders were
47.8% belongs to first, and then 44.4% of them were second
Assumption: order and only 7.8% belongs to third order.
 Most of the children are suffering from malnutrition

Delimitation:
 Children who are available during the data collection
period
 Children who are willing to participate in the study
 Children who are hospitalized during the data
collection period

190
 International Journal of Nursing Education and Research 2(3): July- September 2014

support teams in paediatric hospitals by implementing

screening test for nutritional risk, to identify patients who
require nutritional support, to provide adequate nutritional
management. The unacceptably high prevalence of
malnutrition in paediatric patients documented in this study
adds weight to the urgent need for implementation of those
recommendations.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
1. Padmavathy B. Nutritional status of pre-school children.
Nightingale Nursing Times. 7 (1); Apr 2011: 59-62.
2. Maheswari K. Identifying Malnourished children. Nightingale
Nursing Times. 6 (11); Feb 2011: 57-59.
3. Vibha. Malnutrition in children. Nightingale Nursing Times.
7(6); Sep 2011: 37-40.
4. Alsafooret al. PEM among preschool children in Oman: Results
of a National Survey. La Revue de Sante de La
Mediterraneeorientale. 13(5), 2013.
5. National Family Health Survey – 3 (NFHS-3), 2005-2006.
6. Annie John B. Nutritional Status among Children of Non-
Working and Working Mothers. The Nurse. 4(2); Mar – Apr
FIGURE 1: Distribution of Samples based on IAP classification on 2012: 22-26.
Malnutrition 7. Ghosh S and Shah D. Nutritional problems in urban slum
children. Indian Paediatrics. 41(7); July 2004:682-696.
From the above figure it was found that 54.4% of the 8. Rajiniet al. A study of malnutrition among children aged 1-5
samples were suffering from Grade I malnutrition, 23.3% of years in a selected urban slum in Hyderabad. Nightingale
samples were in Grade II malnutrition, and only 10% of the Nursing Times. 5(10); Jan 2010: 12-15.
9. Sarni RO et al. Anthropometric evaluation, risk factors for
samples were suffering Grade III malnutrition. Of the total malnutrition, and nutritional therapy for children in teaching
samples 12.2% of them belong to normal. A similar hospitals in Brazil. J Pediatr (Rio J). 859(3); May-Jun2009:
prevalence was found by Sarin RO et al 2009, in which 223-228.
16.3% and 30.0% of hospitalized children had moderate 10. Deaton and Dreze, Food and Nutrition in India: Facts and
and severe malnutrition. Interpretations. Economical and political weekly (2009) feb14;
vol XLIV NO 7.
11. Singh A S et al. Locally made ready to use therapeutic food for
TABLE 1: Association between malnutrition and demographic
treatment of malnutrition: A randomized controlled trial. Indian
variables
Paediatrics. 17; Aug 2010.
Sl:No Variable df Table Value X2 Value 12. Ubesie A C et al. Under-five Protein Energy Malnutrition
1 Age 12 21.03 29.91* admitted at the university of in Nigeria teaching hospital, Enugu:
2 Sex 3 7.81 5.48 a 10 year retrospective review. Nutrition journal. 11(43); 2012.
3 Father Education 12 21.03 12.73 13. www.unicef.org
4 Mother Education 12 21.03 7.04 14. 2009 World Hunger Report
5 Father Occupation 9 16.92 16.15
6 Mother 9 16.92 5.56
Occupation
7 Income 9 16.92 20.28*
8 Residency 3 7.81 3.11

The table 1 revealed that only two demographic variables

such as age and income of the family had the association
with malnutrition at the level of significance of 0.05. This
study was par with Maheswari K, 2011 in her findings she
found there was significant relationship with age and
malnutrition of the children.

CONCLUSION:
From the results of this study it is obvious that still
malnutrition prevails among hospitalized children as seen
from the small sample groups. However malnutrition in
children is an even more severe threat not only for
immediate survival, but also for growth, long term
development and health outcomes. Development and
implementation of effective strategies for detection and
treatment of malnutrition in paediatric patients is of utmost
importance. It is recommended to establish nutrition
191

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