Objective: Survey malnutrition and some related factors in children less than 6 months of age attending the nutrition outpatient clinic, National Children’s Hospital.
Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted on children less than 6 months of age who visited the nutrition clinic at the Vietnam National Children’s Hospital from October 2024 to April 2025.
Results: A total of 222 children under 6 months of age (mean age 3.81 ± 1.57 months) were included in the study. The prevalence of underweight malnutrition was 12.6%, stunting was 13.1%, and overweight was 1.8%. The rate of children with weight gain slow below the World Health Organization standard is 45.6%. The study found that malnutrition was significantly associated with gestational age, birth weight for gestational age; breast feeding, age and maternal body mass index, low parent height (p < 0.05).
Conclusion: The prevalence of malnutrition among children under 6 months was 12.6% being underweight and 13.1% stunted. Malnutrition was significantly higher among children who were preterm, had low birth weight, a history of infectious diseases, were not exclusively breastfed, and had older mothers, mothers with low body mass index and parents with short stature.