Prevalence of Acute Malnutrition in Pre-School Children in a Rural Area of Northern Sudan

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of acute malnutrition in pre-school children in Karma Albald village, Northern Sudan. Design: Prospective observational study. Setting: Four kindergartens in Karma Albald village, Northern Sudan. Subjects: Pre-school children attending kindergartens in Karma Albald village (n = 163). Results: Using the World Health Organization case definitions and weight-for-height growth chart, wasting was observed in 29 of 163 children (17.8%); nine children had severe wasting. Socio-economic data showed that 70 children (43%) were from large families (families with four or more children) and 40 were from ‘poor’ families; 21 fathers and 12 mothers had poor literacy. All of the risk factors associated with malnutrition that were studied (that is, economic status, family size, order of the child in the family, and other socio-economic indicators) did not reach statistical significance. Conclusions: The prevalence of malnutrition was high in this cohort. Effective interventions are needed to tackle this major child health problem