Large scale nutritional status assessment in pediatric hospitals

Summary Background & aims Several single-center studies have reported malnutrition among hospitalized children in France. The aim of this survey was to estimate the frequency of malnutrition and the clinical factors associated with it in a large number of centers including medical and surgical wards in university and non-university hospitals. Methods This multi-center one-day cross-sectional survey took place in the third week of March 2011. All participating centers followed the same diagnostic procedure. Intensive care units and emergency rooms were excluded. All children admitted on the same day were weighed and measured. Any child with a body mass index below the third centile for age and sex underwent clinical examination. Associations between clinical factors recorded in the diagnostic procedure and malnutrition (Z-WFH Results Fourteen pediatric departments (32 pediatric wards) throughout France participated in the study. Data were collected in 1063 cases and analyzed in 923. Median age was 6.0 years (1 day to 16 years). Malnutrition was observed in 12% and was associated with height faltering in 2.5% of the whole population. Among the 625 children with a documented diagnosis, 52% were hospitalized for chronic disease. Only muscle loss and disability remained significantly associated with Z-WFH  97th centile (overweight including obesity) was seen in 14% of hospitalized children. Conclusion One in 10 hospitalized children was affected by malnutrition. The present survey is first to investigate a wide variety of pediatric wards throughout France. The initiative must be repeated in order to increase awareness of malnutrition in pediatric hospitals.