Frequency of Hypoglycemia in Severe Acute Malnutrition

Malnutrition is a major health problem throughout the world and contributes to at least one third of all children deaths worldwide. Hypoglycemia is a basic metabolic complication in pediatric patients which can be easily prevented by proper care and management. Objective of this study was to determine the frequency of hypoglycemia in sever acute Malnurished children (SAM). The study was conducted in nutritional division of Nangarhar University Teaching Hospital pediatric department. For 8 months, all the patients were subjected for measurement of blood glucose level by glucose oxidase method .Hypoglycemia was labeled according to value mentioned in operational definition. The study included a total of 252 patients with SAM. 137 (54.4%) were Males and 115 (45.6%) females with no significant difference in the number of gender and with an average age of (Mean± SD) 16.20±11.74 (6 months to 60 months). Out of 252 patients 54.80% (138) were hypoglycemic, and 85.70% (216) suffering from Marasmus. 38.9% of children’s caregivers were illiterate and 86.5% poor and middle-level of socioeconomic status. 12.7%( 32) of the SAM children with hypoglycemia were dying, most of the patient from Nangarhar province. Sever acute malnutrition (SAM) constitutes a significant health problem and important cause of mortality and morbidity in children, in marasmus patients the hypoglycemia is more common than kwashiorkor children; early diagnosis and treatment can prevent and decrease the morbidity and mortality of Sever acute malnutrition (SAM) in children significantly, education, socioecnomic status of caregivers are important in prevention of sever acute malnutrition (SAM) and their complications.