University of Washington
Normal user
11 Sep 2023, 16:43
I am interested in hearing thoughts and experiences surrounding the issue of WHZ monitoring during wasting treatment and how this effects target ("graduation" / "recovery") weights.
For example: A child is enrolled in a severe wasting treatment program because of a WHZ of -3.2. They then do well in the program and gains some weight during the course of treatment and now several weeks into therapy, their WHZ is now above -2 based on their enrollment length. But at the same time, their recovery has been so good that their height/length has also increased and so if you re-calculate their WHZ based on the current length, their WHZ is still below -2.
What do you do in this situation? Do you keep them enrolled for another week, recalculating their WHZ at each visit, or do you consider them recovered since they have achieved their target WHZ based on their enrollment length?
I am curious to hear what national policies and NGO practices are on this question. Obviously there are advantages and disadvantages to both approaches. Thank you for your insights.