Peer-reviewed article
Severe acute malnutrition and its associated factors among children under-five years: a facility-based cross-sectional study
Umesh Ghimire, Binod Kumar Aryal, Ankush Kumar Gupta, Suman Sapkota ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined severe acute malnutrition (SAM) among children aged 6 to 59 months in Nepal, finding that 5.8% of 398 children admitted to nutrition centres were severely malnourished. The research identified three main risk factors: larger family size, food insecurity at the household level, and younger age. Girls were more commonly affected than boys. The study recommends interventions focused on household food security, kitchen gardening, and nutrition education for mothers.
Key points
- 5.8% of children aged 6-59 months in the study sample had severe acute malnutrition
- Children from families with 5 or more members were nearly 4 times more likely to be severely malnourished (AOR: 3.96)
- Children from severely food-insecure households were 4 times more likely to have SAM (AOR: 4.04)
- Younger children (0-12 months) were 12 times more likely to be severely malnourished compared to older children (24-59 months)
- Higher percentages of female children were malnourished compared to males
Limitations
This is a facility-based cross-sectional study, so it only captures children already attending nutrition centres and cannot establish causation or describe the broader population of malnourished children in Nepal. The study design cannot determine whether these factors cause SAM or are merely associated with it.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Despite consistent efforts to enhance child nutrition, poor nutritional status of children continues to be a major public health problem in Nepal. This study identified the predictors of severe acute malnutrition (SAM) among children aged 6 to 59 months in the two districts of Nepal. METHODS: We used data from a cross-sectional study conducted among 6 to 59 months children admitted to the Outpatient Therapeutic Care Centers (OTCC). The nutritional status of children was assessed using mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) measurement. To determine which variables predict the occurrence of SAM, adjusted odds ratio was computed using multivariate logistic regression and p-value < 0.05 was considered as significant. RESULTS: Out of 398 children, 5.8% were severely malnourished and the higher percentage of female children were malnourished. Multivariate analysis showed that severe acute malnutrition was significantly associated with family size (five or more members) (Adjusted Odds Ratio [AOR]: 3.96; 95% Confidence Interval [CI]: 1.23-12.71). Children from severely food insecure households (AOR: 4.04; 95% CI: 1.88-10.53) were four times more likely to be severely malnourished. Higher odds of SAM were found among younger age-group (AOR: 12.10; 95% CI: 2.06-71.09) children (0-12 vs. 24-59 months). CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study indicated that household size, household food access, and the child's age were the major predictors of severe acute malnutrition. Engaging poor families in kitchen gardening to ensure household food access and nutritious diet to the children, along with health education and promotion to the mothers of young children are therefore recommended to reduce child undernutrition.