Malnutrition and anaemia among hospitalised children in Vavuniya.

We conducted a cross sectional descriptive study to describe the factors associated with the degree of malnutrition among hospitalised malnourished children in General Hospital, Vavuniya. All hospitalised children from January to June 2012 (n=1210) were screened and the nutritional status assessed using WHO growth standards for weight for height/length. A total of 179 children with moderate acute malnutrition (MAM) (14.8%) and 105 children with severe acute malnutrition (SAM) (8.7%) were detected during this period. Having SAM (compared to MAM) was associated with lower maternal education (p<0.001), lower paternal education (p<0.001), low family income (p=0.022) and mother being a housewife (p=0.009). Prevalence of anaemia among 284 malnourished children was mild 32.4% (n=92), moderate 22.2% (n=63) and severe 0.7% (n=2). Anaemia was highest among infants and prevalence decreased with increasing age. Social determinants played an important role in degree of malnutrition and anaemia among malnourished children admitted to the General Hospital, Vavuniya.