[Nutritional assessment in hospitalized children in a Paediatric service]. / Evaluación nutricional en niños hospitalizados en un Servicio de Pediatría.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Malnutrition in hospitalized children is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. OBJECTIVE: To determine the nutritional status in children admitted to the Hospital Clínico de la Universidad Católica de Chile. PATIENTS AND METHOD: A retrospective, cross-sectional study was conducted on hospital patients less than 17 years old within the period from November 2010 to April 2011. A record was made of the demographic data, admission diagnosis, biochemistry results (albumin, haemoglobin, haematocrit), hospital stay, and anthropometry data. Nutritional diagnosis was expressed as standard deviation (SD) for weight-for-height (WFH) by WHO in children younger than 5 y, and body mass index (BMI) by CDC-NCHS in older children. Height-for-age (HFA) ≤-2SD indicated stunted growth. RESULTS: A total of 365 children, including 201 boys (55.1%), were evaluated. The median age was 3.35 years (IQR 1.2-8.2). The most frequent reason for admission was heart disease (30.4%). The median hospital stay was 2 days (IQR 2.0-4.0). Undernutrition was observed in 3.3% of the children, 8% were nutritionally at risk, 15% were overweight, and 10.9% were obese. As regards HFA, short stature was reported in 12.9%. There was a significant relationship between lower age and heart disease, and higher age with gastrointestinal and neurological diseases. By ordinal logistic regression for each year of age, the weight/height ratio (ZP/T) increases by 6.9% (OR=1.07). The biochemistry results (albumin, haemoglobin and haematocrit levels) were not associated with nutritional status. CONCLUSIONS: A high percentage of children at risk of undernutrition was found. The percentage overweight was similar to the general Chilean paediatric population. Early detection will allow an opportune intervention, and nutritional monitoring at discharge.