{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,22]],"date-time":"2026-06-22T04:49:33Z","timestamp":1782103773129,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":44,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,22]],"date-time":"2026-06-22T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1782086400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Nutr."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Disease-related malnutrition (DRM) occurs due to energy imbalance caused by increased catabolism, decreased appetite, or increased energy losses. In hospitalized patients, the presence of DRM can increase morbidity, disability, and mortality, as well as delay recovery from the disease. Therefore, identifying accurate nutritional markers associated with length of stay (LOS) in pediatric patients is important.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Objective<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The objective of this study was to explore the association between morphofunctional markers used to evaluate DRM upon hospital admission and LOS in pediatric patients.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Exploratory, single-center prospective cohort study was performed in a single center study with patients evaluated within 24\u201348\u202fh of a third level pediatric hospital. Upon hospital admission, nutritional risk was determinate risk nutritional status screening, anthropometric measurements were made such as weight, height, mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC), calf circumference (CC); body composition with bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) and handgrip strength (HGS) was carried out. DRM was diagnosed based on body mass index-for-age z-score (BMIz)\u202f&amp;lt;\u202f\u22122 standard deviations (SD).<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      A total of 139 pediatric patients (mean age 12.1\u202f\u00b1\u202f3.3\u202fyears) were included; DRM was present in 15.8%. Among patients with DRM, those who concomitantly presented low phase angle (PhA), low CC, and low HGS had a significantly longer median LOS [15 (5\u201327) days] than those with values above the established cutoff points [(8 (5\u201313) days], (\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f=\u202f0.029).\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>In pediatric patients with DRM, lower levels of morphofunctional markers (PhA, HGS, and CC) at hospital admission were associated with prolonged hospital stay. These findings, derived from a Mexican pediatric population, warrant external validation in larger and more diverse cohorts.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fnut.2026.1741856","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,22]],"date-time":"2026-06-22T04:36:34Z","timestamp":1782102994000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Morphofunctional markers to assess disease-related pediatric malnutrition at admission and their association with length of hospital stay"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Alda Daniela","family":"Garc\u00eda-Guzm\u00e1n","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Servicio de Oncolog\u00eda M\u00e9dica, Instituto Nacional de Pediatr\u00eda","place":["Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico"]},{"name":"Tecnologico de Monterrey, Escuela de Medicina y Ciencias de la Salud","place":["Ciudad de M\u00e9xico, Mexico"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Beatriz Adriana","family":"Pinz\u00f3n-Navarro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Tecnologico de Monterrey, Escuela de Medicina y Ciencias de la Salud","place":["Ciudad de M\u00e9xico, Mexico"]},{"name":"Servicio de Gastroenterolog\u00eda y Nutrici\u00f3n Pedi\u00e1trica, Instituto Nacional de Pediatr\u00eda","place":["Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Daffne Danae","family":"Baldwin-Monroy","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Tecnologico de Monterrey, Escuela de Medicina y Ciencias de la Salud","place":["Ciudad de M\u00e9xico, Mexico"]},{"name":"Unidad de Terapia Intensiva, Instituto Nacional de Pediatr\u00eda","place":["Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Salvador","family":"Ortiz-Guti\u00e9rrez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Departamento de Fisiolog\u00eda de la Nutrici\u00f3n, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias M\u00e9dicas y Nutrici\u00f3n Salvador Zubir\u00e1n","place":["Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico"]},{"name":"Secci\u00f3n de Estudios de Posgrado e Investigaci\u00f3n, Escuela Superior de Medicina, Instituto Polit\u00e9cnico Nacional (IPN)","place":["Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Martha","family":"Guevara-Cruz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Tecnologico de Monterrey, Escuela de Medicina y Ciencias de la Salud","place":["Ciudad de M\u00e9xico, Mexico"]},{"name":"Departamento de Fisiolog\u00eda de la Nutrici\u00f3n, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias M\u00e9dicas y Nutrici\u00f3n Salvador Zubir\u00e1n","place":["Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Azalia","family":"Avila-Nava","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Hospital Regional de Alta Especialidad Pen\u00ednsula de Yucat\u00e1n, Servicios de Salud del Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social para el Bienestar (IMSS-Bienestar)","place":["Merida, Yucat\u00e1n, Mexico"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Isabel","family":"Medina-Vera","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Tecnologico de Monterrey, Escuela de Medicina y Ciencias de la Salud","place":["Ciudad de M\u00e9xico, Mexico"]},{"name":"Departamento de Metodolog\u00eda de la Investigaci\u00f3n, Instituto Nacional de Pediatr\u00eda","place":["Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,22]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"203","DOI":"10.1097\/MCO.0000000000000644","article-title":"Pediatric screening tools for malnutrition: an update","volume":"23","author":"Hulst","year":"2020","journal-title":"Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care"},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"460","DOI":"10.1177\/0148607113479972","article-title":"American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition Board of directors. 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