Abstract

There are between 1 and 2 million annual deaths in children due to severe acute malnutrition. It's one of the leading preventable causes of death among kids every year. Severe acute malnutrition is a global problem that has been overlooked by child survival programs despite its criticality. Methods: The research was a descriptive study conducted in a hospital setting. During Department of Paediatric, Dhanalakshmi Srinivasan Medical College, Siruvachur, Perambalur, Tamil Nadu, India, research was carried out at the December 2021 to November, 2022. All hospitalized kids diagnosed with SAM per WHO criteria. Results: 100 children with Severe Acute Malnutrition were hospitalized. Age at onset was, on average, 17.75 months in most cases, infants were seen at 15 months of age. Sixty of the youngsters were younger than two years old. Seven girls and 93 boys made up the total of 100 SAM youngsters hospitalized. Conclusion: Children with SAM who are hospitalized often suffer from multiple co-occurring diseases, the most common of which are acute gastroenteritis and acute respiratory infections. Significant risk factors for mortality were the presence of underlying organic illness, as well as sepsis and retroviral infections.

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