Background: Acute diarrhea remains one of the leading causes of hospitalization among children under five years of age and is closely associated with malnutrition. Describing demographic characteristics and nutritional status in hospitalized children is essential for guiding clinical nutritional management.
Objective: To describe the prevalence of malnutrition according to WHO growth standards and the STRONGkids screening tool among children hospitalized with acute diarrhea.
Methods: A descriptive case series study was conducted on 197 children aged 1–59 months diagnosed with acute diarrhea and admitted to the Gastroenterology Department of Children’s Hospital 2 in 2025. Nutritional status was assessed using WHO 2006 growth standards based on weight-for-age (WAZ), height-for-age (HAZ), and weight-for-height (WHZ) Z-scores. Nutritional risk was screened using the STRONGkids tool.
Results: Children under 24 months accounted for 62.4% of cases, and 56.3% were male. A history of prematurity and low birth weight was reported in 12.7% and 15.2% of patients, respectively, while 54.8% had been exclusively breastfed for the first six months. The overall prevalence of malnutrition according to WHO criteria was 37.3%, including 22.7% stunting, 19.7% underweight, and 14.6% wasting. According to STRONGkids, 44.7% of children were classified as high nutritional risk and 38.6% as moderate risk.
Conclusions: Children under two years represent the majority of hospitalized acute diarrhea cases, with a considerable burden of malnutrition. STRONGkids identified a higher proportion of children at nutritional risk compared to anthropometric assessment alone, highlighting the importance of early nutritional screening in clinical practice.