Maheen Badrashi, Ayesha Imtiaz, Naeem Ullah.
Effect of dietary management on weight of undernourished children under two years of age: tertiary care hospital based study in Peshawar.
J Saidu Med Col Jan ;7(1):31-6.

BACKGROUND: Under-nutrition in children has severe and long lasting consequences including the delayed mental development and lower school performance. Adults who were undernourished as children have impaired work capacity. The most immediate determinants of under-nutrition are poor diet and illness, determined by family access to food and maternal care practices which in turn are influenced by socioeconomic status. OBJECTIVES: To determine the effect of dietary management on weight of undernourished children. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This Cross sectional study was conducted at the nutritional rehabilitation unit of Hayatabad Medical Complex, Peshawar between January and December 2014. Hundred children under two years of age, whose weight for age Zscore was less than 2 standard deviation, were selected using the consecutive sampling technique. Dietary management of these underweight children was done; including the provision of recommended intake of macronutrients (proteins, carbohydrates, fats) and total calories per day. The required data was collected through semi-structured questionnaire as well as anthropometric, clinical and dietary assessments. Paired t- test was used to determine the effect of dietary management on weight of undernourished children. P value of less than 0.05 was taken significant. RESULTS: A sample of hundred underweight children was analyzed; Eighty percent of the under nourished children had Marasmus and 20% were with Kwashiorkor. The mean weight at admission was 6.0 + 1kg which improved to 6.3 ± 1kg at discharge. Carbohydrates (P = 0.008), fats (P = 0.001) and caloric intake (P = 0.002) were found to have significantly effect on weight gain of undernourished children. CONCLUSION: Dietary management with adequate carbohydrates, fats and caloric intake have significant effect on the weight of undernourished children.

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