Two toddlers die from malnutrition
Two toddlers did not live to see their third birthday … and it appears that malnutrition was at the root of both their deaths. In the case of Dalissia Chable, the cause of death is bilateral pneumonia, chronic acute dernatis, and malnutrition syndrome. The other child, Charlin Galvez Diaz, died from asphyxia as a result of worms in his lungs. Investigations are still ongoing to determine whether there was neglect by the parents, but tonight News Five’s Duane Moody takes an in depth look at malnutrition and its causes.
Duane Moody, Reporting
In the past week, the two children died from severe cases of Malnutrition—a deficiency in nutrients in the body caused by inadequate diet and digestive difficulties or absorption problems. This condition often leads to death and according to pediatrician, Dr. Victor Rosado, malnutrition cases are secondary diagnoses.
Dr. Victor Rosado, Pediatrician
“Most parents do not take their children to doctor because he’s not growing adequately and so this is a secondary diagnosis in many cases. Children access hospital because of injuries, because of infections, because of diarrhea or asthma and so usually malnutrition does not appear as the discharge diagnosis, it appears as a respiratory condition.”
“In severe malnutrition, what you have is a severe lack of protein and energy and you must remember that our nutrition system is based on a protein. The patient that is severely malnourished is immuno-compromised to a certain extent and so there is greater risk for them catching an infection and it’s .harder for them to recover from that infection and so mortality is actually high in a severely malnourished child. The three main forms of malnutrition in children are classified as kwashiorkor, marasmus and marasmic kwashiorkor. So specifically kwashiorkor is when there is predominance of protein deficiency. Marasmus is when there is predominance of energy deficiency and obviously, the third one is when there is a combination of both.”
Duane Moody
“Can malnutrition be fatal?”
Dr. Victor Rosado
“Of course, we have classification of malnutrition in terms of severity as well so you can have mild, moderate and severe malnutrition where mortality is actually high in severe malnutrition.”
These three different types of Malnutrition are prevalent in the early stages of childhood. Rosado says it starts from prenatal stages right up to the age of five after which a child suffers from other diseases.
Duane Moody
“Is malnutrition in kids a rare case in Belize?”
Dr. Victor Rosado
“No, I don’t think its rare; I think that if we look at statistical reports from lets say UNICEF or World Health Organization or UNDP that presents some human development reports for each country, you would see that lets say in children less than five years, we have about five percent of our children are severely malnourished.”
Both one year old Dalissia Chable from Corozal and one year six month old Charlin Galvez Diaz from Toledo succumbed to conditions relating to malnutrition. In Chable’s case, rashes covered her body. Rosado says that this is common in Kwashiorkor malnutrition.
Dr. Victor Rosado
“Rashes are particularly common in Kwashiorkor malnutrition. The kwashiorkor malnutrition where you have specifically protein deficiency, the child appears fat, but its actually swelling, its retained fluid and therefore the skin is easily abrasive and it’s hard to recover. So rashes are a common finding in severely malnourished child.”
Duane Moody
“Retained liquid, what do you mean by that?”
Dr. Victor Rosado
“Swelling, the child appears to be fat and appears to be big with bi cheeks, but it’s not a real fat, it’s retained fluids in the body. So if the child is getting fluids and water primarily, they get some energy but there is a lack of protein and therefore the child gets swollen.”
The causes of the condition are often associated with the social environment, poverty and hygienic behaviour of parents.
Dr. Victor Rosado
“Malnutrition again is a social factor. We need to look at access to medical care. We need to look at teenage pregnancy, we need to look at literacy rates, we need to look at poverty conditions; people living under extreme poverty. Those are the things that cause malnutrition. If we do not address these conditions then it is very unlikely that we would eradicate or minimize malnutrition in our country. Working in the medical field and working in hospitals, we see that there is a general increase in the cases of malnutrition here in Belize.”
Duane Moody, reporting for News Five.
