Abstract

Aim: Malnutrition is a state of inadequate nutrition that can be prevented or treated with appropriate nutrition. The aim of this study is to determine the nutritional status of hospitalized infants and to establish the relationship between anthropometric measurements and malnutrition with underlying acute or chronic diseases.

Materials and Methods: This study was cross-sectional, descriptive, and noninvasive. It included the infants who were hospitalized at the tertiary hospital between 2010 and 2012. Demographic data was collected through face-to-face interviews. Body mass index (BMI), BMI standard deviation score (SDS), BMI percentiles, SDS of body weight and height were calculated using the KIGS (Pfizer International Growth Database) Auxology calculator program.

Results: A total of 298 infants were included in the study. The mean age of them was 7.18 ± 4.8 months and 185 children (62.1%) were male. At the time of hospitalization, 101 (33.9%) patients had chronic disease. Neurological diseases were the most common chronic diseases, accounting for 31.7% (n=32) of the chronic diseases. As the severity of malnutrition increased, the likelihood of accompanying chronic illness increased (p<0.05). In the presence of chronic disease, anthropometric measurements of infants were significantly lower (p<0.05). There were significant correlations between the presence of chronic illness, lenght of hospitalization, relative weight, and BMI percentiles (p <0.05).

Conclusion: Mild and moderate malnutrition was detected even in patients who were admitted with acute illness and were not accompanied by chronic disease. Early diagnosis and treatment of nutritional disorders can be important in reducing mortality and morbidity. The aim of the treatment of malnutrition detected during hospitalization should provide better recovery and improvement, increase the quality of life, and raise healthy individuals.

Keywords: chronic disease, hospitalization, infant, malnutrition

Copyright and license

Copyright © 1970 The Author(s). This is an open-access article published by Bolu İzzet Baysal Training and Research Hospital under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

How to cite

1.
Akbay Ak S, Baltalı O, İlhan Ö, Akman S. The evaluation of the malnutrition in hospitalized infants. Northwestern Med J. 2025;5(1):25-32. https://doi.org/10.54307/2025.NWMJ.76

References

  1. Saner G, Durmaz Ö, Gökçe S. Protein-enerji malnütrisyonu. In: Neyzi O, Ertuğrul T, editors. Pediyatri Volume 1. 4th ed. İstanbul: Nobel Tıp Kitabevleri; 2010: 239-50.
  2. Bülbül SH. Protein enerji malnütrisyonu. In: Hasanoğlu E, Düşünsel R, Bideci A, editors. Temel Pediatri. Ankara: Güneş Tıp Kitabevleri; 2010: 51-9.
  3. Baker S. Protein energy malnutrition in the hospitalized patient. In: Walker WA, Watkins JB, Duggan C, editors. Nutrition in Pediatrics. 3rd ed. London: BC Decker Inc Hamilton; 2003: 910-6.
  4. Etiler N, Velipaşaoğlu S. Çocukluk döneminde beslenmenin değerlendirilmesi: Birinci basamakta antropometrinin kullanımı. STED. 2004; 13(2): 50-3.
  5. Gökçay G, Garibaağaoğlu M. Sağlıklı çocuğun beslenmesi. In: Neyzi O, Ertuğrul T, editors. Pediyatri Volume 1. 4th ed. İstanbul: Nobel Tıp Kitabevleri; 2010: 211-32.
  6. de Onís M, Monteiro C, Akré J, Glugston G. The worldwide magnitude of protein-energy malnutrition: an overview from the WHO Global Database on Child Growth. Bull World Health Organ. 1993; 71: 703-12.
  7. Stidham GL. Emergencies in international child health. Curr Opin Pediatr. 1997; 9(3): 254-8. https://doi.org/10.1097/00008480-199706000-00012
  8. Tomkins A. Malnutrition, morbidity and mortality in children and their mothers. Proc Nutr Soc. 2000; 59(1): 135-46. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0029665100000161
  9. Leite HP, Isatugo MK, Sawaki L, Fisberg M. Anthropometric nutritional assessment of critically ill hospitalized children. Rev Paul Med. 1993; 111: 309-13.
  10. Hendricks K, Briefel R, Novak T, Ziegler P. Maternal and child characteristics associated with infant and toddler feeding practices. J Am Diet Assoc. 2006; 106(1 Suppl 1): S135-48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jada.2005.09.035
  11. Hacettepe Üniversitesi Nüfus Etütleri Enstitüsü. Türkiye Nüfus ve Sağlık Araştırması 2008. Ankara: Hacettepe Üniversitesi Nüfus Etütleri Enstitüsü, Sağlık Bakanlığı Ana Çocuk Sağlığı ve Aile Planlaması Genel Müdürlüğü, Başbakanlık Devlet Planlama Teşkilatı Müsteşarlığı ve TÜBİTAK; 2009.
  12. de Onis M, Brown D, Blössner M, Borghi E. Levels and trends in child malnutrition: UNICEF-WHO-The World Bank joint child malnutrition estimates. New York: UNICEF, Geneva: WHO, Washington, DC: The World Bank; 2012. Available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20220123163151/https://www.who.int/nutgrowthdb/jme_unicef_who_wb.pdf
  13. Eidelman AI, Schanler RJ, Johnston M, et al. Breastfeeding and the use of human milk. Pediatrics. 2012; 129(3): e827-41. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2011-3552
  14. World Health Organization (WHO). Infant and young child feeding: model Chapter for textbooks for medical students and allied health professionals. WHO; 2009. Available at: https://iris.who.int/handle/10665/44117
  15. Baker RD, Greer FR; Committee on Nutrition American Academy of Pediatrics. Diagnosis and prevention of iron deficiency and iron-deficiency anemia in infants and young children (0-3 years of age). Pediatrics. 2010; 126(5): 1040-50. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2010-2576
  16. Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). Malnutrition in infants and young children in Latin America and the Caribbean: achieving the millennium development goals. Washington, DC: PAHO; 2008. Available at: https://iris.paho.org/handle/10665.2/18641
  17. Davies PS, Lucas A. The prediction of total body fatness in early infancy. Early Hum Dev. 1990; 21(3): 193-8. https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-3782(90)90118-3
  18. Doğan Y, Erkan T, Yalvaç S, et al. Nutritional status of patients hospitalized in pediatric clinic. Turk J Gastroenterol. 2005; 16(4): 212-6.
  19. Hulst JM, Zwart H, Hop WC, Joosten KF. Dutch national survey to test the STRONGkids nutritional risk screening tool in hospitalized children. Clin Nutr. 2010; 29(1): 106-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clnu.2009.07.006
  20. Beser OF, Cokugras FC, Erkan T, Kutlu T, Yagci RV; TUHAMAR Study Group. Evaluation of malnutrition development risk in hospitalized children. Nutrition. 2018; 48: 40-7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nut.2017.10.020
  21. Rocha GA, Rocha EJ, Martins CV. The effects of hospitalization on the nutritional status of children. J Pediatr (Rio J). 2006; 82(1): 70-4. https://doi.org/10.2223/JPED.1440
  22. De Moraes Silveira CR, De Mello ED, Antonacci Carvalho PR. Evolution of nutritional status of pediatric in patients of a tertiary care general hospital in Brazil. Nutr Hosp. 2008; 23(6): 599-606.
  23. Muñoz-Esparza NC, Vásquez-Garibay EM, Romero-Velarde E, Troyo-Sanromán R. Risk of malnutrition of hospitalized children in a university public hospital. Nutr Hosp. 2017; 34(1): 41-50. https://doi.org/10.20960/nh.974