Association of diarrhoea and malnutrition in infants

ABSTRACT

A hospital based cross-sectional study was conducted on 401 infants to address the hypothesis that positive relationship exists between diarrhoea and malnutrition. Malnutrition was significantly more common among infants with diarrhoea compared to controls [P<0.001]. Risk of malnutrition among acute diarrhoea cases was 1.6 times and among chronic diarrhoea cases 2.6 times that of controls. This association between malnutrition and diarrhoea remained significant after adjusting for significant confounders and substituting weight [Wt] for, age by height [Ht] for age and Wt for Ht