Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Observational Study
. 2021 Feb 24;21(1):94.
doi: 10.1186/s12887-021-02560-z.

Nutritional education during rehabilitation of children 6-24 months with acute malnutrition, under unavailability of therapeutic/supplementary foods: a retrospective study in rural Angola

Andrea Pietravalle  1 , Martina Scilipoti  2 , Francesco Cavallin  3 , Magda Lonardi  2 , Ivo Makonga Tshikamb  4 , Claudia Robbiati  2 , Daniele Trevisanuto  5 , Giovanni Putoto  6
Affiliations
Observational Study

Nutritional education during rehabilitation of children 6-24 months with acute malnutrition, under unavailability of therapeutic/supplementary foods: a retrospective study in rural Angola

Andrea Pietravalle et al. BMC Pediatr. .

Abstract

Background: Dietary counseling can play an important role in managing child malnutrition but is often inadequate or absent. Moreover, little emphasis is given to the usefulness of local available foods in the rehabilitation of malnourished children. This study aimed to evaluate the adherence and effectiveness of nutritional education during rehabilitation of children (6-24 months) with acute malnutrition, in a setting of unavailability of therapeutic/supplementary foods.

Methods: Retrospective observational study on the adherence to dietary counseling and the impact on growth in children 6-24 months who were referred for acute malnutrition at the Catholic Mission Hospital of Chiulo (Angola) from August 2018 to January 2019. Main outcome measures were change in dietary habits and growth gain.

Results: Sixty-four out of 120 children returned at first follow-up visit (default rate 47%). A change in dietary habits was reported in 32/64 (50%) children. Changing dietary habits was associated with an improved change in weight gain (MD 9.3 g/kg/day, 95%CI 4.2 to 14.3; p = 0.0005) and in weight/height ratio (MD 1.1 SD, 95%CI 0.7 to 1.4; p < 0.0001).

Conclusions: A change in dietary habits after discharge was noted in only half of the patients who returned at first follow up visit, but it provided some advantages in term of weight gain and weight/height ratio. Further studies are needed to identify children at risk of low adherence to follow-up visits and low compliance to the nutritional recommendations, in order to increase the effectiveness of rehabilitation programs.

Keywords: Acute malnutrition; Education; Nutritional rehabilitation.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Study flow chart and scheme of intervention
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Mean weight gain/loss (a) and mean weight/height ratio (SD) (b) of 64 children who returned at first follow-up visit
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Mean weight gain/loss (a) and mean weight/height ratio (SD) (b) of 36 children who returned at second follow-up visit
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. UNICEF/WHO/The World Bank Group Joint child malnutrition estimates. Levels and trends in child malnutrition, 2018 edition.
    1. Ashworth A. Nutrition, Food Security, and Health, Chapter 46. In: Kliegman RM, Stanton BMD, St. Geme J, Schor NF, editors. Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics. 20th ed: Elsevier Health Sciences; 2015.
    1. FAO; IFAD; UNICEF; WFP; WHO . The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2018. Building climate resilience for food security and nutrition. 2018.
    1. Ashworth A, Ferguson E. Dietary counseling in the management of moderate malnourishment in children. Food Nutr Bull. 2009;30(3 Suppl):S405–S433. doi: 10.1177/15648265090303S304. - DOI - PubMed
    1. UNICEF . The state of the World’s children 2019. Children, Food and Nutrition: Growing well in a changing world. 2019.

Publication types