NUTRITION LEVELS AMONG CHILDREN WITH NEWLY DIAGNOSED CANCER AT SIRIRAJ HOSPITAL, BANGKOK, THAILAND

Undernutrition among children with cancer can result in poor tolerance of treatment and increased risk for severe infection and mortality. We aimed to determine the nutritional status of Thai children newly diagnosed with cancer presenting to Siriraj Hospital, Bangkok, Thailand from April 2011 to September 2012. Inclusion criteria were patients newly diagnosed as having a hematological, solid or central nervous system cancer during the study period. The nutritional status of each subject was determined by three methods: 1) change in body weight during the previous six months prior to cancer diagnosis; 2) height (or length), weight, and triceps skinfold thickness; 3) serum albumin level. Subjects were categorized using those data as adequately nourished, inadequately nourished, and severely undernourished. Fifty percent of subjects were adequately nourished, 29.3% were inadequately nourished and 20.7% were severely undernourished. The nutritional status did not vary significantly among malignancy types, but advanced stage lymphoma and solid cancer subjects were significantly more likely to be undernourished. These data suggest undernutrition is a common and potentially serious problem among study subjects. We recommend nutrition management programs should be properly applied to this population and further testing may be needed to determine if these programs can prevent or reduce the frequency of undernourishment-related morbidity and mortality.