Effect of nutritional intervention on anthropometric measurements of malnourished children at Nutritional Rehabilitation Center, Civil Hospital Ahmedabad under "Mission Balam Sukham" scheme.

CONTEXT

In Gujarat, 39.7% of children are underweight and 10.6% are severely wasted in under five years of age. Nutritional rehabilitation centers started by the Government of Gujarat under the "Mission Balam Sukham" program focused at providing an energy-dense diet and protein along with other nutrients to combat malnutrition in children by hospital admission.

AIM

To estimate the effect of nutritional intervention on Anthropometric measurements of malnourished children at Nutritional Rehabilitation Center (NRC), Civil Hospital, Ahmedabad.

SETTINGS AND DESIGN

A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted at the NRC of B. J. Medical College, Civil Hospital, Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

METHODS AND MATERIAL

It was a hospital-based cross-sectional study conducted at NRC, Civil Hospital, Ahmedabad from January 2017 till December 2017 (1-year duration). A total of 159 children, 0-5 years were admitted in NRC during this period and observed during their stay with three follow-up visits.

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED

Z-test, one-way ANOVA on repeated measures test.

RESULTS

The majority of the admitted children were in the age group of 12-23 months. Overall mean weight at admission was 6.1 ± 1.7 Kg. The increase in mean weight at discharge was 6.5 ± 1.9 Kg. The mean weight on the third follow-up was 7.4 ± 1.9 Kg. Nearly 62.3% of severely malnourished children had improvement (cured) after treatment that was given during NRC admission.

CONCLUSIONS

The present study confirmed the effectiveness of nutrition rehabilitation centers in the management of severe acute malnutrition.