Nutritional Assessment and its Association with Rotavirus Positivity Among Under Five Children Admitted with Diarrhea in a Tertiary Care Hospital of Southern Haryana, India.

Objective: To estimate the burden of undernutrition and its association with rotavirus positivity among under-five children admitted with diarrhea.

Methods: This prospective observational study was carried out in hospital-setting from February 2016 to January 2020. For all cases who met the eligibility criteria, an informed written consent was obtained from parents/caregivers. A case report form was used to collect sociodemographic, anthropometric and clinical data. The anthropometric measurements of children were performed according to World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines.

Results: Nutritional assessment revealed that 74.1% study subjects were underweight [Weight-for-Age (WAZ) < -2], 59% were stunted [Height-for-Age (HAZ), < -2] and 52.3% were wasted Body Mass Index (BMIZ) < -2]. Stunting was found to be significantly higher among boys as compared to girls and rotavirus positive diarrhea was significantly less prevalent among stunted children.

Conclusion: There exists a very high prevalence of underweight, stunting, and wasting among hospitalized children with diarrhea. As the better nutrition has not been shown to guard against rotavirus diarrhea, coverage scale-up of rotavirus vaccination, improved hygiene and sanitation, and focussed nutrition programmes are the need of the hour in India.