ABSTRACT
Background: Congenital heart disease (CHD) is commonly associated with protein energy malnutrition (PEM) and failure to thrive in children. Children with congenital heart diseases are commonly malnourished irrespective of CHD. The aim of the study is to assess the effect of CHD on growth and to identify the areas of growth affected with reference to different anthropometric measurements. Materials and Method: A case control observational study was carried out in children aged 0-12 years old with CHD in the Department of Pediatrics, Kota. All patients underwent an anthropometric evaluation (weight, height/length, head circumference, mid-arm circumference) and growth charts (NCHS and WHO) were used accordingly. Results: We had total of 40 patients, 30 (75%) had acyanotic congenital malformation, while 10 (25%) had cyanotic cardiac malformation. Majority, 17(77%) out of 22 cases above 5 years with CHD were underweight. Left to right shunt children with acyanotic malformation were tended to have acute malnutrition and stunting was more severe in children with cyanotic defects, with 100% of them affected. Conclusion: A significantly higher number of children (82%) were underweight and 86% were stunted among children with congenital heart disease. In conclusion it can be stated that children with congenital heart disease have highly measurable significant growth retardation (P<0.05) by student t test.