Information & Literature

Malnutrition is an acute or chronic condition in which a deficiency or imbalance of energy, protein and other nutrients leads to measurable, adverse effects on body composition, functioning and clinical results. Malnutrition in children can have different causes and serious consequences. Malnourished children have a bigger chance of infections, slower wound healing, are longer on the respiratory system and are on average longer in the hospital. In addition, malnutrition has adverse effects on the growth and development of children. Several studies ( Joosten et al., 2010  ) show that 6-14% of children are malnourished when admitted to hospital. In the Netherlands, about 10% of children are malnourished when admitted to hospital. During admission, the number of malnourished children increases and the prevalence of malnutrition is around 19%. Unfortunately, no current data are available about the prevalence of malnutrition in primary care children.

Literature