Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Malnutrition and anemia are mainly in coexistence with each other and are potent risk factors of delayed growth and development in children. Moreover, both malnutrition and anemia could trigger the disease and prolonged the hospitalization period.
OBJECTIVE:
The purpose of the current study is to determine the prevalence of malnutrition and anemia in patients admitted to Tabriz pediatric hospital in 2017 and also to determine their demographic and social determinants.
METHODS:
A cross-sectional study of 342 children aged 6 months to 13 years including 220 boys and 122 girls admitted to pediatric hospital in Tabriz-Iran in 2017 were recruited. Demographic and anthropometric variables were obtained from medical records. Height for age, weight for age and weight for height Z-scores (HAZ, WAZ, WHZ) were used to evaluate the nutritional status. Routine laboratory records of children in hospital were used to determination of anemia. Anemia was defined based on the WHO criteria as hemoglobin concentrations less than 11 and 11.5 g/dL for children under and over 5 years old respectively.
RESULTS:
The prevalence of severe and moderate wasting among girls were more prevalent than boys (P < 0.05). The moderate stunting was also more prevalent among girls (P = 0.029). Total prevalence of anemia was 31.87%; while this prevalence among children under and over 5 years of old was 31.25% and 33.33% respectively. In children under 5 years, mean age, weight, height and WHZ in anemic children were significantly lower than non-anemic children (P < 0.05). In children over 5 years of age, mean age and weight were also marginally lower among anemic compared with non-anemic children. No statistically significant difference between prevalence of anemia in children under or over 5 years old were identified.
CONCLUSIONS:
High prevalence of malnutrition among girls compared with boys reveals the need for further attention and strategy planning for nutrition education and intervention among vulnerable low-income families.
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