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Abstract

Abstract


Objective: To determine the frequency of stunting and micronutrient deficiencies in malnourished children admitted in a tertiary care hospital.
Methods: It was a cross-sectional study conducted at Paediatric department of Civil Hospital Karachi from January 2007 to December 2008. Patients aged 6 to 60 months, admitted in the ward were assessed for nutritional status and stunting according to the WHO classification of malnutrition, mild (weight for height ratio between -1SD to -2SD) moderate (-2SD TO-3SD) and severe (less than -3SD of NCHS/WHO reference values) malnourished children were included in the study. All the patients were subjected to clinical examination, which included height/length, weight and clinical signs of micronutrient deficiencies. Laboratory investigations were done to confirm the clinical diagnosis of iron deficiency anaemia and rickets. The collected data was analyzed by Statistical Program SPSS version 15. Frequencies and percentages were computed to present all categorical variables. Quantitative variables such as age was presented by mean ± SD.
Results: A total of 150 patients were enrolled in this study. Their mean age was 24.4 ± 13.8 months (range 6 to 60 months). Of all, 63 (44%) patients were severely stunted, 44 (29%) had moderate stunting, 27 (18%) had mild stunting while only 16 (10.7%) had normal stature. Severely malnourished (