Nutritional Assessment and its Association with Rotavirus Positivity Among Under Five Children Admitted with Diarrhea in a Tertiary Care Hospital of Southern Haryana, India.

OBJECTIVE

To estimate the burden of undernutrition and its association with rotavirus positivity among under-five children admitted with diarrhea.

METHODS

This prospective observational study was carried out in hospital-setting from February 2016 to January 2020. For all cases who met the eligibility criteria, an informed written consent was obtained from parents/caregivers. A case report form was used to collect sociodemographic, anthropometric and clinical data. The anthropometric measurements of children were performed according to World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines.

RESULTS

Nutritional assessment revealed that 74.1% study subjects were underweight [Weight-for-Age (WAZ) < -2], 59% were stunted [Height-for-Age (HAZ), < -2] and 52.3% were wasted Body Mass Index (BMIZ) < -2]. Stunting was found to be significantly higher among boys as compared to girls and rotavirus positive diarrhea was significantly less prevalent among stunted children.

CONCLUSION

There exists a very high prevalence of underweight, stunting, and wasting among hospitalized children with diarrhea. As the better nutrition has not been shown to guard against rotavirus diarrhea, coverage scale-up of rotavirus vaccination, improved hygiene and sanitation, and focussed nutrition programmes are the need of the hour in India.