Analysis of Integrated Management of Acute Malnutrition (IMAM) dataset 2013 to 2018: A secondary dataset analysis

BackgroundMalnutrition remains the most common cause of morbidity and mortality in children under the age of 5 years. In Zimbabwe nearly 1 in every 3 children is malnourished. Child nutrition in the country is affected by inadequate knowledge among mothers and caregivers on appropriate diets especially in the first 1000 days of life. Weak coordination and inadequate resources for high impact nutrition interventions also affect nutrition in children. MethodsA descriptive cross sectional study was conducted on records from January 2013 to December 2018. All malnourished patients admitted into Community based management of acute malnutrition (CMAM) at health facilities in, with a diagnosis of Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) from January 2013 December 2018 as reported in the DHIS2 were included in the study. We retrieved the dataset from the DHIS2 to the excel sheet and analysed the data to come up with graphs demonstrating trends in management of acute malnutrition. ResultsThe 6-59 months age-group constitute the group with the highest cases of admission into the CMAM program. The 0-5 months age-group showed the least number of cases admitted and had the lowest HIV positivity over the period under review. The highest treatment outcome for HIV positive patients was death rate. Highest number of cases of malnutrition were admitted in 2016.The District failed to meet sphere standard default and cure rate throughout the period under review. ConclusionThe treatment outcomes of this study showed that HIV negative had better treatment outcomes than HIV positive. The age group 6 to 59 months had the highest number of cases admitted into CMAM program.The implementation of an effective public health approach for addressing malnutrition require a holistic approach that incorporates preventive measures such as poverty reduction, hygiene promotion, clean water, prevention of prenatal macronutrient and micronutrient deficiencies, and the promotion of age appropriate foods and feeding practices for infants and young children.