Prevalence of malnutrition at the time of admission among patients admitted to a Canadian tertiary-care paediatric hospital.
BACKGROUND
Malnutrition among hospitalized children is known to negatively influence their response to therapy and to prolong their admission. It also has short- and long-term consequences for growth, development and well-being. It is commonly regarded as a condition affecting children in low-income countries; however, malnutrition has been found to be variably prevalent among hospitalized children in higher-income countries. At the time the present study was conducted, it had been >30 years since the nutritional status of Canadian hospitalized children was last published.


OBJECTIVE
To determine and communicate the prevalence of malnutrition among children in a Canadian tertiary-care paediatric hospital at the time of their admission.


METHODS
In the present cross-sectional study, anthropometric measures were obtained from 322 children admitted to The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Ontario. Nutritional indexes (BMI for age, weight for age, weight for length/height and length/height for age) were generated from anthropometric measures using the WHO igrowup software, and summarized according to WHO definitions.


RESULTS
The overall prevalence of malnutrition using BMI for age was 39.6% (95% CI 33% to 46%), of which 8.8% and 30.8% of participants were under- and overnourished, respectively. Furthermore, 6.9% (95% CI 3% to 13%) were determined to be acutely malnourished (weight for length/height <-2 SD) and 13.4% (95% CI 10% to 18%) chronically malnourished (length/height for age <-2 SD).


CONCLUSIONS
The high prevalence of overall malnutrition observed among study participants suggests that initial screening using simple anthropometric measures should be conducted on hospital admission so that patients can receive appropriate nutrition-specific care.
The Hospital for Sick Children, Centre for Global Child Health, Toronto, Ontario;
Jo-Anna B
JA
Baxter
The Hospital for Sick Children, Centre for Global Child Health, Toronto, Ontario; ; Department of Pediatrics, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, State of Qatar;
Fatma Ibrahim
FI
Al-Madhaki
The Hospital for Sick Children, Centre for Global Child Health, Toronto, Ontario; ; Departments of Paediatrics, Nutritional Sciences, and Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario.
Stanley H
SH
Zlotkin
Anthropometry; Malnutrition; Overweight; Paediatrics; Prevalence; Undernutrition