The relationship between hospitalisation, social background, severe protein energy malnutrition and mental development in young Jamaican children

The development levels, length of hospital stay, social and biological backgrounds of 18 young Jamaican children who had recently been hospitalised for severe PEM, and 21 adequately nourished children who had been hospitalised for other reasons were studied. Birth‐weights, age, severity of illness, length of hospital stay, standard of housing, mothers’ verbal IQ, and the quality of the micro‐environment were all examined. Multiple regression analysis was carried out on the data of both groups combined. Eighty‐three percent of the variance in the Developmental Quotient (DQ) was accounted for by all the background variables together. The occurrence of PEM had a greater effect on DQ than any of the other variables, and it also made the largest independent contribution to the DQ variance. Age, length of hospital stay and the quality of the micro‐environment made smaller significant effects on DQ.

Key words:

• severe protein‐energy malnutrition (PEM)
• mental development
• social background
• hospitalisation
• young children