Koetaan Danae, Smith Andrea, Liebenberg Anke, Brits Marietjie, Halkas Christos, Van Lill Maresa, Joubert Gina
School of Medicine,University of the Free State.
Afr J Prim Health Care Fam Med. 2018 May 28;10(1):e1-e5. doi: 10.4102/phcfm.v10i1.1476.
The Constitution of South Africa stipulates that all children have the right to basic nutrition; however, a great number of South African children are underweight for age. It is important to address malnutrition as it is associated with more than 50% of all child deathsin developing countries and also increases the risk for infective diseases.
To determine the prevalence of underweight in children aged 5 years and younger attending primary health care clinics in the Mangaung area, Free State, and determine the possible underlying causes thereof.
Six preselected primary health care clinics in the Mangaung area.
This was a cross-sectional study. Demographic and clinical information and anthropometric measurements were collected from the children's Road-to-Health clinic cards,obtained from the children's caregivers.
In total, 240 children were included, of which 51.7% were girls. The median age was 7.5 months. The weight-for-age graph revealed that 7.7% (95% confidence interval: 4.8%;11.9%) of children were underweight or severely underweight for age. Length-for-age and weight-for-height graphs were mostly incomplete. Underweight children differed from normal weight children regarding birth weight (low birth weight 70.6% vs. 12.4%) and history of malnutrition (60.0% vs. 7.1%).
The prevalence of underweight in children aged 0-5 years attending primary health care clinics in Mangaung is 7.7% based on information available from Road-to-Healthcards. This figure could be higher if these cards were filled in more accurately. A low birth weight and history of malnutrition are associated with underweight.
南非宪法规定所有儿童都有权获得基本营养；然而，大量南非儿童年龄别体重不足。解决营养不良问题很重要，因为在发展中国家，超过50%的儿童死亡与之相关，而且还会增加感染性疾病的风险。
确定自由州曼加翁地区初级卫生保健诊所中5岁及以下儿童体重不足的患病率，并确定其可能的潜在原因。
曼加翁地区六个预先选定的初级卫生保健诊所。
这是一项横断面研究。从儿童的“健康成长之路”诊所卡片中收集人口统计学和临床信息以及人体测量数据，这些卡片由儿童看护人提供。
总共纳入了240名儿童，其中51.7%为女孩。中位年龄为7.5个月。年龄别体重图显示，7.7%（95%置信区间：4.8%；11.9%）的儿童年龄别体重不足或严重不足。年龄别身长图和身高别体重图大多不完整。体重不足儿童与正常体重儿童在出生体重（低出生体重70.6%对12.4%）和营养不良史（60.0%对7.1%）方面存在差异。
根据“健康成长之路”卡片提供的信息，曼加翁地区初级卫生保健诊所中0至5岁儿童体重不足的患病率为7.7%。如果这些卡片填写得更准确，这一数字可能会更高。低出生体重和营养不良史与体重不足有关。
