Rate of Weight Gain in Malnourished Children in the Malnutrition Rehabilitation Program in Bobirwa
Abstract
The rate of recovery from malnutrition is an important factor in malnutrition rehabilitation programs (MRPs). The longer a child stays in the malnourished state, the more the irreversible effects of malnutrition, especially regarding neurocognitive development, get established in the child. In Bobirwa District Botswana, it is not known to what extent and how fast malnourished children recover from malnutrition. The objective was to establish the rate and degree of weight gain in malnourished children on the program. Between August 2015 and August 2016, we enrolled 101 malnourished children in a prognostic cohort study. We tracked changes in anthropometric measures in the children. Subjects were followed for four months. The study found out that the weight after 4 months of follow up was significantly higher (t= -6.22 df=72, p=0.000, d=0.83), being 5.87% higher than the baseline. There was no association between age and degree of malnutrition (weight for age and height for age scores). There was no association between age and the degree of weight gain. The study showed no effect of food variety and weight gain. The study found no association between the type of caregiver and improvement in nutritional status. The study concluded that weight increased after 4 months is statistically significant. However, the rate of increase is only a tenth of the least acceptable rate. This means the program is performing poorly in rehabilitating malnourished children. Reorganization of the program, perhaps change of the feeding product, is recommended.
Keywords: Malnutrition, Child Growth, Infant Nutrition, Complementary Feeding & Child Health.
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