Impact
According to the World Health Organization, “malnutrition remains one of the most common causes of morbidity and mortality among children throughout the world. Approximately 9% of children below 5 years of age suffer from wasting (weight-for-height below 2 standard deviations of the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS)/WHO reference values) and are at risk of death or severe impairment of growth and psychological development.” A great deal of information and help is available for assessments and intervention. Our initial assessment strategy is guided by The World Health Organization Child Growth Standards. These standards were developed using data collected in the WHO Multicentre Growth Reference Study and are accompanied by documentation on how the physical growth curves and motor milestone windows of achievement were developed as well as application tools to support implementation of the standards.
We utilize these guidelines for rehydration and rehabilitative dietary management as well as for physical and psychological stimulation, care and affection, are of which are necessary rehabilitation in order to prevent retardation of growth and psychological development.
The impact of our intervention in terms of median hight, weight and BMI for boys and girls aged 61-228 months are measured using standard statistical tests with reference to the 1977 National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS)/WHO reference which uses the original NCHS data set supplemented with data from the WHO child growth standards sample for under-fives.
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