부산대학교 도서관

Introduction: The fundamental tenet of human development is nutrition, which is also one of the risk factors for rising new born morbidity and mortality. Fetal malnutrition is a serious condition marked by evident intrauterine loss or failure to acquire a typical amount of subcutaneous fat or muscle. It is a vital state that sets the stage for proper growth and neurodevelopment throughout life. India has received a score of 101 out of 116 on the global hunger index for 2021 in developing nations. Materials and Methods: Live born, singleton neonates with a gestational age of ≥34 weeks who were brought for a regular checkup immediately after birth in the outpatient department and neonates whose hospital stay exceeded 24 hours of birth in Government General Hospital were enrolled. A total of 50 neonates brought to Government General Hospital from January 2021 to December 2021 were studied. Interviews were conducted with the parents of the children who met the criteria for selection and who agreed to take part in the study, and information regarding the baby's sex, gestational age, time of delivery, and the mother's history of multiple pregnancies was gathered. The latest menstrual period (LMP) date was used to calculate the gestational age in accordance with clinical evaluation using New Ballard's Scoring and first trimester ultrasonography. Within 48 hours of the birth, all the infants underwent a protocol-required systematic examination. Results: The CANSCORE ranged from 18 to 36, and the mean and median CANSCORE was 27.84±4.61 and 28 (IQR 4.5), respectively. The PI ranged from 2 to 3, and the mean and median PI was 2.44±0.26 and 2.36 (IQR 0.40), respectively. The MAC/HC ratio ranged from 0.23 to 0.33, and the mean and median MAC/HC ratio was 0.29±0.02 and 0.28 (IQR 0.03), respectively. In the present study, 76% of the neonates had CANSCORE of ≥25, and 24% had CANSCORE of <25. In the present study, 80% of the neonates had MAC/HC ratio of ≥0.27, and 20% had MAC/HC ratio of <0.27. In the present study, 68% of the neonates were boys, and 32% were girls. However, 66.67% of the boys had CANSCORE of <25 compared to 33.33% of the girls, and the difference was statistically not significant (p=0.586). Conclusion: The present study reemphasizes that FM is a significant problem in the study area as the incidence of FM in the study area is as high as one in four newborns are likely to have FM based on CANSCORE. Further, the present study also reemphasizes that CANSCORE is a simple systematic method to identify fetal malnutrition. It does not require any sophisticated equipment or time-consuming calculations. Hence it is the method preferred for or ideal for screening malnourished babies. At the same time, MAC/HC ratio seems to be a more accurate index than PI as the diagnostic accuracy of PI is slightly less than MAC/HC ratio. This tool is very helpful in the periphery where the availability of qualified personnel is less and will help the health workers to identify FM easily in developing nations where the incidence of FM is high. However, these observations require further validation due to the potential limitations of the study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]