ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Pediatr.
Sec. Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition
Modified STRONGkids Outperforms PYMS for WHO-Defined Malnutrition: A Screening-to-Action Pathway for Pediatric Wards
Provisionally accepted
- Wenzhou People’s Hospital, Wenzhou, China
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Objective: To understand the nutritional status of hospitalized children, explore the clinical application value of the modified STRONGkids and PYMS screening tools in hospitalized children. Methods: Nutritional risk screening was conducted using the modified STRONGkids and PYMS tools on 302 children admitted to the pediatric department of our hospital from April 2021 to March 2023. Differences in clinical outcomes and biochemical indicators under different nutritional statuses were analyzed. Results: Overall, 302 children were included in the current study. The modified STRONGkids screening tool identified 18 (5.96%) children at high risk of malnutrition, 210 (69.54%) at moderate risk, and 74 (24.50%) at low risk. The PYMS screening tool identified 16 (5.30%) children at high risk, 152 (50.33%) at moderate risk, and 134 (44.37%) at low risk. According to WHO nutritional assessment standards, 150 (49.67%) children were identified as borderline malnourished or malnourished. Both the modified STRONGkids and PYMS evaluations indicated that children with digestive system diseases had a significantly higher risk of malnutrition than those with other systemic diseases, and children under 1 year of age had a significantly higher risk of malnutrition than other age groups (P<0.05). High-risk children identified by both screening methods had higher rates of hospital-acquired infections, longer hospital stays, and lower levels of hemoglobin and prealbumin compared to those at moderate and low risk (P<0.05). The modified STRONGkids tool demonstrated higher sensitivity and accuracy in predicting malnutrition in hospitalized children compared to the PYMS tool (P<0.05). . Conclusion: Children with digestive system diseases and those under 1 year of age are at high risk for malnutrition. Both the modified STRONGkids and PYMS tools can effectively identify children at risk of malnutrition, with the modified STRONGkids tool showing better application results.
Keywords: Digestive SystemDiseases, nutritional, Nutritional risk screening, PyMs, STRONGkids
Received: 14 May 2025; Accepted: 22 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Chen, Zhang and Han. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Hong Chen
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