Implementation of new indicators of pediatric malnutrition and comparison to previous indicators

BACKGROUND: Early identification of childhood malnutrition is imperative to improve overall health outcomes, and more importantly, to start early intervention to decrease the risk of future complications. This study aimed to evaluate new malnutrition Z-score growth indicators for detecting pediatric malnutrition and degrees of severity and compare their accuracy with that of growth chart centiles. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This retrospective study included 475 pediatric patients from several pediatric nutrition clinics for six months. The participant's weight, height, age, and growth parameters were recorded using both traditional growth charts (centiles) and updated malnutrition indicators (z-scores). The percentage and degree of malnutrition using centiles and Z-scores were compared. RESULTS: In children aged <2 years, the percentage of malnutrition was 4.7% higher when measured using new malnutrition indicators (weight-for-length Z-score) compared with (weight-for-length centiles). Our results also showed 9.6% higher number of malnourished children >2 years of age when BMI-for-age Z-score was used compared to weight-for-height centiles while there were 15.8% higher malnourished children when BMI-for-age Z-score was compared to BMI-for-age centiles for the same group. We found a significant difference (X(2) = 202.548, P=<.0001) between the degree of malnutrition in children aged >2 years using BMI-for-age Z-score (normal vs. malnourished) and the degree of malnutrition using BMI centiles (normal vs. malnourished). Approximately 34% of the children classified as normal using centiles were classified as malnourished using Z-scores. Comparing the degrees of Malnutrition, approximately 23% (45 of 196) of children classified as normal based on centiles were classified as having mild malnutrition when Z-scores were used, and 42% (80 of 192) of children who were classified as having mild malnutrition based on centiles were classified as having moderate malnutrition when Z-scores were used. CONCLUSIONS: In our study, a higher percentage of children showed malnutrition when assessed using the Z-score (BMI-for-age for children >2 years/weight-for-length for children <2 years of age) than the centiles growth chart.