Publication: The effectiveness of nutritional intervention towards poor weight gain among paediatrics in dietetic outpatient clinic, Hospital USM in 2016: a retrospective study
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Date
2019-06
Authors
Yun, Chee Chui
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Abstract
This retrospective study was purposely conducted to assess the effectiveness of nutritional intervention towards poor weight gain among paediatrics in dietetic outpatient clinic, Hospital USM. Medical records and medical nutrition therapy cards were used to obtain the research data. Nutritional status indicators including weight, height and energy intake on first, second and third visits in year 2016 were collected to determine their differences respectively after receiving nutritional intervention, together with the sociodemographic characteristics, clinical data, dietary data and data on type of nutritional intervention received. The research study involved 75 subjects (50.7% female and 49.3% male) of age below 18 year old. Most of the subjects were 2 year old or below with total of 63(84.0%) subjects, female with total of 38(50.7%) subj ects, Malay with total of 72(96.0%) subjects, and with no knpwn medical illness with total of 49(65.4%) subjects. The mean (SO) of weight on second visit was 7.93(2.17) kg, significantly higher than that of first visit, which was 7.26 (2.09) kg at p<O.OO I, tested using paired t-test. The median (IQR) of weight on third visit was 8.50 (I 0.30) kg, significantly higher than that of second visit, which was 7.26 (2.09) kg at p<O.OO I, tested using Wilcoxon Signed-Rank test. The mean (SO) of height on second visit was 71.81 (7.18) em, significantly higher than that of first visit, which was 69.77 ( 11.48) em at p<0.05, tested using paired t-test. The mean (SD) of energy intake on second visit was 813.98 (224.19) kcal per day, significantly higher than that of first visit, which was 727.62 (244.64) kcal per day at p<0.05, tested using paired t-test. Result showed that nutritional intervention that implements breastfeeding, formula adjustment with high protein, and the use of modular product gave positive impact towards weight changes. However, the progress in height may be slower and the energy intake may influenced by low socio-economic status and presence of medical issues. In conclusion, the effort from a multidisciplinary team and family supp011 are important to ensure the success of nutritional intervention g1ven. Growth monitoring also has to be done to ensure their optimum growth rate.