Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa.
University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa.
Pan Afr Med J. 2020 Nov 13;37:237. doi: 10.11604/pamj.2020.37.237.25261. eCollection 2020.
undernutrition has a profound effect on growth, development and susceptibility to infectious disease. In Africa, it was found that undernutrition is an underlying factor in around 35% of the preventable deaths of children under the age of 5 years. The first 1000 days of life is most crucial for childhood development. Undernourished children in their first 1000 days of development experience a significant reduction in brain development which cannot be regained later in life. The aim was to describe the profile and clinical picture of admitted children with undernutrition, in order to identify areas for intervention.
a descriptive study design with an analytical component was used. Data for undernourished admitted children, ages 2-71 months, for the study period 2016-2017 at the study site were included in the study. Data were collected from patient files and summarised by frequencies and percentages.
data were collected from 172 patient files, which is > 80% of all children eligible for inclusion. Most (88.0%) of the children had a weight for age < -2 SD and 18.6% had bilateral pitting oedema. More than 80% of the children were still in their first 1000 days of life, 42.8% were born with low birth weight and 24.2% were not breastfed. Head circumference was only recorded for 16.3%. Presenting symptoms were cough, fever and diarrhea - in line with those covered in the Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI).
most children presented within the first 1000 days of life, making focussed interventions possible. Areas identified for intervention were babies with low birth weight and babies not breastfed. As most children presented with IMCI symptoms, nurses should also assess the nutritional status of these children in accordance with the guidelines. Lack of anthropometric measurements and poorly recorded feeding histories should be addressed.
营养不良对生长、发育和易感性传染病有深远的影响。在非洲，人们发现，营养不良是 5 岁以下儿童可预防死亡的约 35%的潜在因素。生命的头 1000 天对儿童发展最为关键。在头 1000 天发育过程中营养不良的儿童大脑发育会显著减少，而这种减少在以后的生活中无法恢复。目的是描述营养不良住院儿童的特征和临床情况，以确定干预领域。
采用描述性研究设计，并具有分析性组成部分。将 2016 年至 2017 年期间在研究地点住院的年龄在 2-71 个月的营养不良儿童患者的数据纳入研究。数据从患者档案中收集，并以频率和百分比进行总结。
从 172 份患者档案中收集数据，这超过了所有符合纳入条件儿童的 80%。大多数（88.0%）儿童的体重年龄<-2SD，18.6%有双侧凹陷性水肿。超过 80%的儿童仍处于头 1000 天之内，42.8%出生体重低，24.2%未母乳喂养。仅记录了 16.3%的头围。主要症状为咳嗽、发热和腹泻-符合综合儿童疾病管理（IMCI）的范围。
大多数儿童在头 1000 天内出现，因此可以进行有针对性的干预。确定的干预领域是出生体重低的婴儿和未母乳喂养的婴儿。由于大多数儿童出现了 IMCI 症状，护士还应根据指南评估这些儿童的营养状况。应解决缺乏人体测量数据和记录不良的喂养史问题。
