Introduction: Acute malnutrition continues to affect the lives of millions of children worldwide. In 2020, an estimated 45.4 million children were wasted—a figure representing 6.7% of children under five worldwide. Of these, 13.6 million are severely wasted, suffering from severe acute malnutrition (SAM). In Haut-Uélé Province, According to MICS 2018 Among children under 5 years old, 10% suffer from acute malnutrition (31,000) and 35% (109,000) suffer from chronic malnutrition in the Isiro Health Zone.
Methods: This is a cross-sectional study with a descriptive aim conducted in the Isiro ZS in the Haut-Uélé province during the period from May 15 to June 15, 2023.
Data were entered using Excel software and imported into STATA 15 for statistical analysis.
Descriptive statistics were reported on proportions for categorical variables and mean (±SD) for quantitative variables with symmetrical distribution.
Results: Our study shows that the prevalence of severe acute malnutrition is 17.47% and moderate acute malnutrition is 11.82%, compared to chronic malnutrition at 0.63%.
Conclusion: Our study demonstrates that malnutrition remains a public health problem. It is multifactorial, but also sociodemographic, economic, and behavioral, and most frequently affects children between the ages of 6 and 24 months.