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Childhood malnutrition is not just due to lack of nutrients, it can also be caused by enteric infections leading to intestinal inflammation and malabsorption of nutrients. Human genetic polymorphisms can alter host genes that affect nutrient absorption and metabolism. Changes in intestinal microbial ecology and the microbiome (the collective genome of the intestinal microbiota) can also affect the harvest of nutrients from the diet. A substantial proportion of malnourished children fail to recover due to inappropriate treatment. However, there may be other causes for treatment failure, including changes in the microbiome and infection with an enteropathogen, and a genetic predisposition to malnutrition may exist. It is, therefore, logical to undertake the following: 1) investigate genetic predisposition to malnutrition, 2) determine the genetic markers and biomarkers that can help identify children at risk of malnutrition, and 3) look for new treatment modalities that can improve the clinical management of children with malnutrition. Key words: genetic markers, malnutrition, metagenomics doi: 10.1111/j.1753-4887.2009.00241.x

A study was conducted to evaluate mid upper arm circumference (MUAC) and visible severe wasting as predictors of inpatient mortality at a district hospital in sub-Saharan Africa and to compare these with weight-for-height z score (WHZ). The results suggested that MUAC is a practical screening tool that performs at least as well as WHZ in predicting subsequent inpatient mortality among severely malnourished children hospitalized in rural Kenya.

Undernutrition continues to be a primary cause of ill-health and premature mortality among children in developing countries. This paper examines how the prevalence of undernutrition in children is measured and argues that the standard indices of stunting, wasting and underweight may each be underestimating the scale of the problem. This has important implications for policy-makers, planners and organizations seeking to meet international development targets. Using anthropometric data on 24 396 children in India, we constructed an alternative composite index of anthropometric failure (CIAF) and compared it with conventional indices. The CIAF examines the relationship between distinct subgroups of anthropometric failure, poverty and morbidity, showing that children with multiple anthropometric failures are at a greater risk of morbidity and are more likely to come from poorer households. While recognizing that stunting, wasting and underweight reflect distinct biological processes of clear importance, the CIAF is the only measure that provides a single, aggregated figure of the number of undernourished children in a population. Keywords Malnutrition/epidemiology/complications/economics; Child nutrition disorders/epidemiology; Poverty; Anthropometry; Body weight; Body height; Diarrhea/etiology; Respiratory tract infections/etiology; Socioeconomic factors; Nutrition surveys; India (source: MeSH, NLM). Mets cles Malnutrition/epidemiologie/complications/economie; Troubles nutrition enfant/epidemiologie; Pauvrete; Anthropometrie; Poids corporel; Taille corporelle; Diarrhee/etiologie; Facteur socioeconomique; Voles aeriennes superieures, Infection/etiologie; Enquete nutritionnelle; Inde (source: MeSH, INSERM). Palabras clave Desnutricion/epidemiologia/complicaciones/economia; Trastornos de la nutricion del nino/epidemiologia; Pobreza; Antropometria; Peso corporal; Diarrea/etiologia; Infecciones del tracto respiratorio/etiologia; Factores socioeconomicos; Encuestas nutricionales; India (fuente: DeCS, BIREME). [TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII.], Resume Pauvrete, sous-nutrition infantile et morbidite : nouveaux elements concernant l'Inde La sous-nutrition continue d'etre une cause principale de mauvais etat de sante et de mortalite prematuree parmi les enfants [...]

Malnourished children may grow up to become adults with reduced physical and cognitive capacity. Knowledge of trends of children's nutritional status over time is important to raise awareness, guide resource allocation as well as develop nutrition-related interventions for communities. A retrospective study was conducted in Harare using data collected and compiled by the Harare City Council Nutrition Unit. Trends of nutritional status of primary school children in high density areas of Harare were examined in relation to stunting and wasting. All anthropometric data generated from 2003 to 2011 by the Harare Nutrition Unit were analysed. Age was calculated by subtracting the date of birth from the date of interview. The Z- scores for height-for-age (HAZ), and weight-for-height (WHZ) were calculated using the National Centre for Health Statistics (nCHS) standards. Children with HAZ and WHZ less than -2 SD from the median reference population were considered stunted and wasted, respectively. The least squares method was used to determine the strength of outcome change measures over time. A decrease in stunting was observed from a prevalence of 10.2% to 7.4% over the period 2003 to 2011 in males ([R.sup.2] = 0.13), and from 7.8% to 4.4% in females ([R.sup.2] = 0.29) over the same period. Wasting in both males and females was on a slower decrease starting only from the year 2007 to 2009 ([R.sup.2] = 0.11) for males and ([R.sup.2] = 0.05) for females. There has been an increase in wasting in recent years from 2009 to 2011 in males (2.7-4.6%) and females (3.1-3.6%). More males among primary school children are both wasted and stunted than females. The results demonstrate a decreasing prevalence in stunting in primary school children but there is an increase in prevalence of wasting in primary school children. Interventions to curb the rise in wasting in primary school children in Harare's high density areas are warranted such as resuscitation of school nutrition gardens, school feeding program and health education. Key words: stunting, wasting, malnutrition, children, Zimbabwe, INTRODUCTION Nutrition is a fundamental pillar of human life, health and development across the entire lifecycle. Proper and well balanced nutrition throughout the life-cycle is very important in maintaining a [...]