Protein-calorie malnutrition in children in Equatorial Region, Sudan

Protein-calorie malnutrition (PCM) is a major factor of childhood morbidity and mortality in Equatorial Region of the Sudan. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the sociocultural factors contributing to PCM in children admitted to the Sabbah Children’s Hospital in Juba. The study was performed during the period April 1987-March 1988 inclusive. Of the 346 children with PCM, 88 (25 percent) were underweight, 52 (15 percent) had kwashiorkor, 46 (13 percent) had marasmic-kwashiorkor, and 160 (46 percent) had marasmus. Instability due to the prevailing civil war plays an important role in the predisposition to the problem. Family, cultural, and societal factors (such as mother’s illiteracy and poverty, the high prevalence of teenage marriages and pregnancies, and polygamy) contribute to the PCM, and subsequently affect child survival. Ref.