Prevalence and outcome of malnutrition in under-five children attending the paediatric emergency ward of a tertiary hospital in southern Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Under-five children continue to be the worst affected by the effect of malnutrition. It is important to know the burden of this menace to enable the generation of effective strategies to tackle the various forms of malnutrition in our environment.
Objective: This study is aimed at determining the prevalence of malnutrition and its outcome in under five children admitted into the children emergency ward of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City.
Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective study of under-five children admitted over a period of one year, into the children emergency ward of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin. Retrieved data was entered into a spread sheet and analyzed using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS), version 23.
Results: Ninety-two out of 1922 children aged 1 - 59 months admitted within the study period were malnourished, giving a prevalence of 4.8%. The male to female ratio was 1:1.4 and the age group of 25 - 36 months had the highest proportion (30.4%). Primary malnutrition accounted for about 52% of the total with marasmus contributing a greater proportion (64.6%). The mortality rate among the children with malnutrition was 30.4% with secondary malnutrition contributing 46.4%.
Conclusion: A low prevalence of malnutrition and a high mortality rate was found in underfive children admitted into the children emergency ward.