Introduction & Objective: Madagascar has a predominantly young population and a high burden of malnutrition. The potential relationship between nutritional and glycemic status and the consequences of underdiagnosed dysglycemia-related diseases motivated this study. In the context of a medical student’s volunteering experience, we aimed at identifying dysglycemias and highlighting possible correlations with demographic factors and nutritional status in a pediatric population of Madagascar.
Methods: Glycemia was assessed on a population of 430 outpatients aged 0-12 years old by single fast fingerstick glycemic measurements. No exclusion criteria were set. General and nutritional information was collected. Data analysis was performed using R software, Python and WHO child growth standard software.
Results: Malnutrition had a 50% prevalence in the study population. 17 children (3.9% of the total) exhibited glycemic levels significantly deviating above the mean of the group with a healthy nutritional status, adjusted for the time elapsed since their last meal. These children, classified as outliers, were notably older. Most importantly, acute-on-chronic malnutrition (wasting-on-stunting) increased by almost 10 times the risk of the child being an outlier.
Conclusion: Acute-on-chronic malnutrition correlated with a state of dysglycemia, possibly confirming literature findings that a malnourished status might negatively impact pancreatic hormonal balance and beta cell functionality. The study holds both practical and epidemiological significance. It has increased awareness on dysglycemia and facilitated early recognition of possibly peculiar presentation in low-income countries. Epidemiologically, our study appears to encourage targeted glycemic screening in acutely on-chronic malnourished children and help resource allocation.
N. Marziale: None. B. Maizza: None. A. Massimino: None. L. Menga: None. G. Paratore: None. M. Pittarello: None. L. Profeta: None. P. Fiorina: None. A. Lania: None.
