Peer-reviewed article
Radiological insights into pediatric undernutrition: Early detection, complications, and a structured evaluation approach.
Ishan Kumar, Ashish Verma, Priyanka Aggarwal, Nidhi Yadav, Karan Kukreja et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This review examines how radiological imaging can help detect and diagnose child undernutrition and its complications in South Asia. It explains that despite economic growth, child malnutrition remains widespread due to factors like poor feeding practices, inadequate sanitation, and limited healthcare access. The document presents how radiologists can identify undernutrition early, distinguish it from other conditions, and detect serious complications. A structured evaluation approach for diagnosing malnourished children is provided.
Key points
- Child undernutrition persists in South Asia despite economic growth
- Causes include fetal malnutrition, inadequate infant feeding practices, poor household sanitation, and untargeted health schemes
- Radiologists have an underutilized role in early detection of undernutrition and its complications
- Radiological evaluation can help identify clinical mimics such as endocrine and genetic disorders
- A multidisciplinary approach is needed for diagnosis and management of malnutrition
Limitations
This is a review article that synthesizes existing knowledge rather than presenting original research data. It does not provide quantitative evidence on the effectiveness of radiological screening in improving child health outcomes or reducing malnutrition in South Asian populations.
Abstract
Despite a decade of significant growth in economic conditions of South Asian countries, people continue to suffer from the pervading problem of malnutrition. High prevalence of child undernutrition despite unprecedented economic growth in these nations have a multifactorial etiology including fetal malnutrition and status of women, inadequate feeding practices in infant and young child, poor household sanitation and untargeted health schemes. The diagnosis and management of malnutrition and its various complications require a multidisciplinary approach and radiologists have a potentially important, albeit currently underutilized, role in early detection, identifying the other clinical mimics such as endocrinal and genetic disorders, and detection of key complications. In this review, we apprise the radiological aspects of PEM and micro-nutritional deficiency and their complications. We also provide a comprehensive structured evaluation scheme for evaluation of a suspected malnourished child.