Nutritional status of children with CNS  diseases

Abstract Background Children with neurological disorders are frequently subject to malnutrition, stunted growth or underweight. These are accompanied with oral cavity motility disorders, swallowing disorders and gastroesophageal reflux. Frequently, there is growing insufficiency of the body mass caused by the loss of adipose tissue, decreasing BMI and muscular atrophy, which leads to increased risk of complications and deaths due to nutrition disorders The aim of this research was to examine the state of nutrition of children with central nervous system damage, depending on age, a neurological disorder and the degree of dysphagia. Materials and methods The research encompassed 74 children diagnosed with damage of the central nervous system and sent to the Pediatric Clinic of the Silesian University in Katowice. The children were between 2 and 16 years old and they were subject to the examination from August 2012 to November 2014. The research made use of the prospective method with the help of medical examination, documentation analysis, anthropometric measurements and laboratory tests of patients divided into groups depending on their age, a neurological disorder and the degree of dysphagia. Results Using cut-off values of BMI for the population of children according to the WHO reference grids, 62.16% of children showed significant underweight, and 4.06% of children were affected by overweight or obesity. Having analysed the anthropometric measurements, it was possible to prove the connection between BMI, the thickness of the skin fold over the three-headed and the two-headed muscle and the degree of dysphagia and a neurological disorder. On the other hand, there was no connection to the patients’ age. Conclusions Children with cerebral palsy and encephalopathy are more frequently affected by malnutrition than with other causes of central nervous system damage. Children with a higher degree of dysphagia are more frequently affected by underweight and insufficient growth. The patients' age does not influence malnutrition in a substantial way. Keywords: malnutrition, neurological disorders, status of nutrition