A PROSPECTIVE STUDY OF THE RISK OF DIARRHEAL DISEASES ACCORDING TO THE NUTRITIONAL STATUS OF CHILDREN1

Prospective field data were employed to examined the effect of child malnutrition on the subsequent risk of diarrhea among preschool children in rural Bangladesh. A total of 2019 children aged 12-23 months were classified according to weight-for-age, weight-for-height, and height-for-age of the Harvard median standard. Over a 24-month prospective period, diarrheal hospitalization rates among the children were matched to the initial anthropometric assessment. No differences in diarrheal hospitalization rates were noted for the children according to initial nutritional status. Another group of 207 children under five years of age were classified according to weight-for-age and their diarrheal attack rate in the field was followed prospectively for one year after nutritional assessment. Again, no differences in field diarrheal attack rates were…