TITLE:
Associated Factors with the Nutritional Status of Children Undergoing Pediatric Oncology Treatment at the Departmental Teaching Hospital Ouémé-Plateau, Porto-Novo (CHUD-OP)
AUTHORS:
Gilles Bognon, Florence Alihonou, Mohamed Ladouan, Nicole Tchiakpe, Annabella Hountondji, Romaric Massi, B. Koudjo
KEYWORDS:
Wasting, Stunting, Pediatric Oncology
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Pediatrics,
Vol.16 No.3,
May
27,
2026
ABSTRACT: Background: Malnutrition is a frequent complication of pediatric oncology. This study aims to assess the nutritional status of children undergoing cancer treatment and hospitalized in the Pediatric Unit of the CHUD-OP in Porto-Novo. Methods: It was a prospective descriptive and analytic study held in five months from 2nd January to May 31st 2023. The population study was made up of children undergoing cancer treatment in the Pediatric Oncology Unit during the study period. The assessment of the nutritional status was made with the anthropometrics measurements (weight-for-age, height-for-age, mid-upper arm circumference, body-mass-index for age). Data analysis was made with the R software (4.1.2 version) and the Nutriservey 2007 software had been used to calculate the concentration of nutrients consumed in the 24-hour recalls. The p-value is significant when lower than 5%. Results: In all, 47 children were included of which 26 boys (55.3%) giving a sex ratio of 1.23. The average age was 7.72 years, with extremes of 7 months and 18 years. Over three-quarters (n = 36; 76.6%) of the parents had a low level of education. Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (n = 6; 12.8%), retinoblastoma (n = 6; 12.8%), Burkitt’s lymphoma (n = 5; 10.6%) and nephroblastoma (n = 5; 10.6%) were the most frequently diagnosed cancers. Most of the children (n = 40; 85.1%) had insufficient energy intake. The prevalence of wasting was 57.4%, with 17.0% suffering from severe acute malnutrition and 40.4% from moderate acute malnutrition. The prevalence of stunting was 38.3%. Factors significantly favoring the onset of undernutrition in these children were female gender (p = 0.03), parental education level (p = 0.02) and the nature of the cancer pathology (p = 0.02). Conclusion: Nutritional care of children with cancer is essential, and should be part of the supportive care offered in the same way as cancer treatment. It must be appropriate and adapted to each type of child in order to reduce morbidity and mortality rate.