Take Care Of Malnourished Children

How to care when a child is malnourished? The familiar question of many mothers with young children is having a developmental delay in terms of height and weight.
What is the normal weight and height of a child?
The weight of full-term, healthy babies at birth is about 3kg. If the baby weighs less than 2.5kg, it is usually premature or malnourished (full term but weighing less than 2.5kg)

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The average height of a newborn is about 50cm.
A normal growing child has the following weight changes:
- In the first 3 months, children grow very fast: increase 1-2 kg / month.
- In the next 3 months, children increase 500-600g / month
- In the next 6 months, only increase 300-400g / month.




- At 1 year of age, the baby weighs 3 times more at birth (about 9-10kg).
- From 2 to 10 years old children increase on average 2-3kg / year
The average weight of children over 1 year of age can apply the following formula to calculate:
X = 9 kg + 2 kg x (N-1), where X is the child's current weight (kg), N is the child's age (in years).
The normal development of a child's height:
- In the first 3 months, the child increases 3 cm / month.
- 4-6 months, increase 2-2.5cm / month.
- 7-9 months, increase 2cm / month.
- 10-12 months, increasing 1-1 5 m / month.




By the time the child is 1 year old, the height is 1.5 times higher than at birth (about 75cm), then the average one-year child increases 5-7cm / year until puberty.
The average height of children over 1 year of age can apply the following formula:
X = 75cm + 5cm x (N-1), where X is the child's current height (cm), N is the child's age (in years).
How to know if a child is malnourished?
The simplest way to tell if a child is developing normally or malnourished is by weighing the child regularly every month to monitor their development (based on the child's growth chart):
- Every month the child gains weight regularly, which is an important sign of a healthy, normal child.
- Do not gain weight is a warning sign about health and poor feeding (the risk of malnutrition).
If there is no condition to weigh, the child can use the measurement of the left arm to assess the nutritional status of the child.
Types of malnutrition
Children are classified as common malnutrition in the community into 3 categories:
Being underweight or under age
Reflecting both the slow growth in malnutrition as well as the undernutrition at that time.
This indicator is useful for determining the overall level of undernutrition and changes over time.



Weight data for age is often easier to obtain because they are often used to track the growth of children.
Stunting
Stunting is reflected by the age-low height index due to the child's growth retardation, which leads to the failure to reach the required height of a child of the same age in the reference population.
Stunting is a manifestation of persistent developmental delay or a sign of past major retardation.
Slim
Emaciation occurs when the child's height-weighted criterion drops significantly below the recommended values in the reference population. Being skinny reflects acute malnutrition caused by not gaining weight or losing weight.
Take care of malnourished children
For malnourished children, when taking care, attention should be paid to the following stages:
Food hygiene
- Ensure children "eat cooked, drink boiling". Food cooked for children to eat immediately, if for more than 3 hours to boil new children to eat.
- Avoid contaminated and contaminated food because it is a source of disease such as: diarrhea, food poisoning .



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- Food processing equipment must ensure hygiene.
Personal hygiene
- Wash your child often with clean water (in the summer). Keep the child warm, avoid drafts (in the winter, when taking a shower ...) to avoid cold infections, respiratory infections.




- Keep clothes clean, hair neat.
- Help children have a habit of keeping their teeth clean, not eating a lot of sweets to avoid tooth decay and gingivitis.
- Keep your hands clean: make a habit of washing hands before eating and after defecating, cutting nails for children. Do not let children crawl in dirty soil.
Do not let children suck their hands, do not wipe dirty hands on their faces, do not put dirty objects and toys on their mouths to avoid helminths.
Environmental sanitation
- Ensure children eat, sleep, have fun in a cool, bright place.
- Furniture and toys of children need to be clean, dry.
- Having enough clean water for daily activities and for preparing food for children.




- To put garbage in enclosed places, away from places, avoid flies and mosquitoes.
Psychological care
Cuddle and pat affectionately to show affection and love for a child. Children need to be encouraged, talked, played ... to create a basis for their comprehensive development, avoiding roughness in gestures of adult words in front of children.
Take care when a child is sick
When children are sick, especially when they have diarrhea or respiratory infections, they need to know how to manage them at home. In addition to drug treatment, importance should be paid to the care and appropriate child rearing to help children recover from illnesses and recover quickly.




Nourish when a child is malnourished
Malnourished children often have poor appetite, digestive disorders or diseases. Nourishment is only effective when the child's illness has been thoroughly treated.
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