H. Martinezsalgado et al., SUSTAINED FEEDING DURING ACUTE DIARRHEA I N CHILDREN YOUNGER THAN 5 YEARS OF AGE, Salud publica de Mexico, 40(2), 1998, pp. 141-149
Objective. To identify locally available and culturally acceptable foo
ds for children with acute diarrhea, and test their acceptance and eff
ect on the child's weight. Material and methods, 142 mothers of childr
en younger than five years of age living in rural communities were int
erviewed to indentify culturally accepted diets by means of group sort
ing,These were displayed in a multidimensional scale. A descriptive st
udy was performed of the clinical course of 54 children, ages 4 to 50
months who received the designed diets during the first 48 hours of di
arrhea. Results. The designed diets considered age of the child, and s
tage of the disease. Children spent 47.6 +/- 22.2 h in the hospital du
ring which they consumed 44.8 +/-: 28.6 kcal/kg/day (additional to bre
ast milk) and they gained 70.6 +/- 179.7 g. A direct relationship was
observed between increasing age and larger caloric intake, and between
this and greater weight gain. Conclusion, Children showed good accept
ance of diets, Caloric intake was enough to prevent weight loss.