ACUTE MALNUTRITION

Objective: To determine the frequency of low mid upper arm circumference(MUAC) of children with acute malnutrition. Patients and methods: This study was conducted inthe department of paediatrics at Liaquat University Hospital Hyderabad from 01-06-2012 to 30-11-2012. All the children with features of malnutrition, of either gender were recruited andevaluated for their mid upper arm circumference which was measured through plastic measuringtape. Result: During six month study period, total 135 children with acute malnutrition werestudied for their mid upper arm circumference (MUAC), of which 95(70%) were males and40(30%) were females. The mean age ±SD of overall population was 30.24±10.57 month whilethe mean age of male children was 32.88±11.76 and the female child was 31.62±10.97 months.Regarding the MUAC, was low in 93(68.9%) children with acute malnutrition. The mean age ±SDof child with low MUAC was 28.99±12.52 while the mean ±age of male and female child with lowMUAC was 27.63±10.73 and 29.85±11.64 respectively. The mean MUAC in children of acutemalnutrition with low MUAC was 8.85±3.93 while it was 8.66±3.96 and 8.93±3.31 in male andfemale child with low MUAC respectively. Conclusions: The present study suggested that MUACis appropriate and good tool for identifying severe malnutrition in children.