Comparison of nutritional counseling only and additional oral nutrition support in children with mild malnutrition

COMPARISON OF NUTRITIONAL COUNSELING ONLY AND ADDITIONAL ORAL NUTRITION SUPPORT IN CHILDREN WITH MILD MALNUTRITION Aim: In the traditional classification of malnutrition, mild malnutrition is defined as cases where height-for-age (HFA) or weight-for-height (WFH) Z scores are in the range of -1/-2. Currently, mild malnutrition is not included in the WHO classification. However, if children with mild malnutrition are not intervened, negative consequences such as increased morbidity and mortality may occur. In our study, it was aimed to compare the growth and development of children with mild malnutrition, in whom only nutritional counseling was applied, and in addition to which oral nutritional support (ONS) products were used. Material and Method: The study was designed retrospectively. 155 patients whose Z Score was in the range of -1/-2 according to anthropometric measurements (HFA, WFH, BMI), who were detected to have mild malnutrition and who underwent nutritional intervention were included in the study. Anthropometric data were recorded from patient files. Baseline and control anthropometric measurements of the patient group that only underwent nutritional counseling and the patient group that used an ONS product in addition to nutritional counseling were compared statistically. Results: Of 155 patients (52% female, mean age 7.52 ± 5.46), 37% (n=58) had only mild acute malnutrition, 16% (n=25) had only mild chronic malnutrition, and 47% (n=72) had both mild acute and mild chronic malnutrition. While 58% (n=90) of the patients only made nutritional counseling, 42% (n=65) additionally used ONS products. In the study, WFH/BMI Z score increased significantly in the entire patient group compared to the baseline (p<0.05). The average WFH/BMI Z score increase was higher in the group using ONS. In patients using ONS, the rate of patients with ix an increase in WFH/BMI Z score (more than 3%) is significantly higher (p<0.05). In the mild acute malnutrition group (n=130), the WFH/BMI Z-score fell below -2 SD in 7.4% (n=4) of the patients (n=54) using ONS, while in the group with only nutritional counseling (n= 76) this rate was found to be 10.5% (n=8). There was no significant change in HFA Z scores in all patient groups. Conclusion: Early detection and nutritional intervention of mild malnutrition has proven to be highly beneficial in preventing malnutrition from escalating in severity and potentially modifying its severe consequences. Although nutritional counseling is useful in the treatment of mild acute malnutrition, additional use of ONS is more effective in the treatment of malnutrition. Keywords: nutrition intervention, mild malnutrition, ONS