Benefit of Oral Nutrition Supplement for Children with Acute Malnutrition at Hospital Outpatient

Introduction: Acute malnutrition in children is still high in our country. It needs optimal nutrition support during and after discharge from the hospital. We evaluated the benefit of oral nutrition supplements (ONS) in improving acute malnutrition in children in a hospital outpatient setting. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted among 124 children under five with acute malnutrition (weight-for-height < -2SD, according to the WHO growth standard). All the children were followed during six months of treatment. At the end, the change of nutritional status was calculated and associated factors were studied. Results: Among 124 children, 70 (56.5%) were males and 54 (43.5%) were females with a median age of nine months. On recruitment, 41 children (33.1%) had severe acute malnutrition (SAM) and 83 children (66.9%) had moderate acute malnutrition (MAM). In the end, five children (4.1%) improved from SAM to well-nourished, 22 children (17.7%) improved from MAM to well-nourished, and 13 children (10.5%) improved from SAM to MAM, respectively. Initial SAM status and frequent visits were significantly associated with the improvement in nutritional status. Conclusions: Treatment with ONS for six months in children under five with acute malnutrition improved their nutritional status by approximately 32.3%, in which 21.8% had complete improvement. Independent factors for improvement were initial SAM status and frequent visits to the outpatient clinic.