Abstract
Introduction: The burden of malnutrition is of
significant concern in Nepal. The objectives of this study
are to classify the nutritional status in children admitted
in nutritional rehabilitation home of Pokhara Academy
of Health Sciences and to relate the demographic
characteristicsand the effectiveness of the nutritional
intervention measures on status of malnutrition which
can help in the policy formulation to tackle the burden
of malnutrition.
Materials and Methods: This is a hospital based
retrospective study in which total of 238 children with
malnutrition admitted in nutritional rehabilitation home
of Pokhara Academy of Health Sciences during July 2014
to July 2018 were followed. The socio-demographic
factors and nutritional status were analyzed at admission
and at discharge using the available record. Data was
analyzed using SPSS 16.
Results: Out of 238 malnourished children, 167(70.2%)
were cases of moderate acute malnutrition and 76(29.8%)
were cases of severe acute malnutrition. The mean
weight at admission was 7.18±1.73 kg, mean weight at
discharge was 7.82±1.82 kg and mean weight increased
after nutritional intervention was 0.62 kg±0.40. The
average weight gain in severe acute malnutrition was
4.7gm/kg/day. A statistically significant difference was
obtained between meanweight (p=0.00, t= - 24.62) of
children at admission and discharge.There was significant
statistical difference between mean weight gain (p<0.05,
t= -3.1) in severe acute malnutrition (0.76±0.49 kg) and
in moderate acute malnutrition (0.59±0.34 kg).
Conclusion: Nutritional rehabilitation homes are
effective in improving the nutritional status of
undernourished children, more effective in severe acute
malnutrition. However it is important to reassess the
management protocol to meet the intake targets so that
the rate of weight gain is improved.
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