Protein Energy Malnutrition and the Risk of Diarrheal Diseases and Ari in Preschool Children Harar Zuria Awraja
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Date
1987-02
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Publisher
Addis Abeba Universty
Abstract
A 6 weeks fo l low up study regarding the association
between P.E .M and diarrh e~ l dis eases and AR I was performed
in 1757 children under fiv e years living in 8
peasants ' villages of Harar Awraja , Harrarghe Region .
2% thes~ children were found to be below -2 Z-score of
weight - far - height index. In children aged 1 - 5 years
8.7% were severly malnourished «12 . 5 cms of MUAC) , and
22% were moderat8ly malnouri.shed OIUAC = 12.5- 13 . 5 em) .
During the follow up period 63 . 6% children developed
new episodes of diarrhea and 63.4% had new symptoms of
ARI . Diarrheal attack rat e o f 2 . 5 p e r c hild and mean
duration of 4 . 9 days was observ ~ d . Fo r AIlI the rates
were 2 . 2 and 4 . 5 respectively .
Both the duration and frequenc~ o f AR I and diarrh eal
diseases were found to be associated with ag e and nutri tional
status . Diarrh ea l di seases and ARI were more
frequent and of lo nger du r ation in chi l dren less t han
2 year s of age
chi Idren (MUAC
relative to older c hildren . Ma l nourished
<13 . 5 cms) showed
attack rates and l onger duration
significantly h igher
than th e ade quately
nour i shed by the same standard . Nutritional s tatus
as assessed by weight - far - height index was not found
to be associated with morbidity .
At the end of the follow up period 18 . 7% of c hildren
lost weigh t from what they have initIally. 77 . 6% had
gained weight and 3.7% did not show any change . 47 . 5%
showed decrease in their MUAC from wllat was obser ved
at the beginning . 29 . 3% had increased MUAC an d in 23 . 3%
v i I
the initial and the last r e adjn[;s were s imilar. More
children in the younger age group s howed a tend ency to
gain weight and MUlIC whil~ jn th e old e r ones the tend ency
was towards n e[; ~ tive gain, 'fhe InajoriLy n~ children who
lost weight and MUAC had diarrhea (70.4 % \ and was fotmd to
be statistically signifi c ant . ARI did not s how a s sociation
to weight and MUAC chan ges .
This study proves thaL ma.lllll Lril. iun in c rcas es morbidity
from infectious diseases and inf ec ti o ns parti cularly
diarrhea can contribut e Lo malnu t riti on. This focus es
attention on the importanc e o f a combined at t ack on
both infections & ''''alnut ri t jon II'h ich is b est a c h i e ved by
coordinatedmllltisectora l co llabo raLl on.
Vill
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Keywords
Protein Energy Malnutrition