Prevalence of malnutrition in hospital children in federal teaching hospital Abakaliki, Ebonyi state south eastern Nigeria.

Background: Malnutrition is a state of excess or deficiency in energy, protein and or other nutrients which causes measurable adverse effects on body forms and function. A holistic approach is required in the management of hospitalized pediatric patients and includes the assessment and management of nutritional problems if present.Objectives: To assess the prevalence and factors associated with malnutrition amongst hospitalized pediatric patients.Methods: A cross sectional descriptive study carried out in the General Pediatric ward of Federal Teaching Hospital Abakaliki, Southern Nigeria where. Data on height, weight and mid arm circumference were taken and recorded in a questionnaireproforma Weight-for-height Z-Score’s were calculated using the WHO reference values 2007 and <-2 Z-score used as definition of moderate and severe malnutrition. BMI was calculated and the BMI-for-age SD-scores calculated from the WHO reference values 2007.Undernutrition was defined as BMI-for-age SD-score<-2.Variables were cross-tabulated and associations tested using the Fisher’s Exact test with a level of significance set at p<0.05.Data analysis was done using SPSS version 20Results: Of the 150 subjects recruited, majority (60.7%) were males, of the lower socioeconomic class (56.7%) and admitted for various infectiousdiseases (80.6%).19.3% were wastedmalnourished using the weight-for-height while 37.3% were underweight using BMI-for-age percentiles. Diagnosis was significantly associated with malnutrition (p<0.05)Conclusion: A high prevalence of malnutrition exists amongst hospitalized patients. Hence all inpatients should have anthropometric measurements taken and recorded so that their nutritional needs may be addressed with their primary diagnosis.KEYWORDS. Hospitalized children, malnutrition, and prevalence