William Opoku-Nkoom

Case Study Report of Dietary Management of Severe Acute Malnutrition William Opoku-Nkoom

Project Report from the year 2010 in the subject Nutritional Science, grade: 70.00, University of Ghana, Legon (Nutrition and Food Science Department, Faculty of Science), course: Dietary Management of Diseases, language: English, abstract: Severe acute malnutrition or severe wasting is defined as weight-for-length less than - 3 SD based on WHO standards. The condition is highly prevalent in populations living in the context of poverty with concurrent disease burdens. The worldwide prevalence of severe wasting in children below five years is estimated to be 35% and 2% in Ghana. Treatment of severe acute malnutrition is either facility- or hospital-based if there are complications and appetite is poor, or community-based in the absence of complications coupled with good appetite. In order to be abreast with the treatment of severe acute malnutrition, as part of the requirement in the masters program in nutrition at the University of Ghana, a marasmic case was identified at the Princess-Marie Louis Children's hospital in Accra-Ghana, and treatment monitored for two weeks. It was found that severely malnourished children have high risk of getting infections, as tuberculosis was diagnosed in the child by the second week. For success in the treatment of severe acute malnutrition, close medical attention is very imperative.