Introduction: Patients with cerebral palsy (CP), besides the basic neurological damage, are also often undernourished. Adequate nutrition for children is very important during the period of intensive growth and development, which is of particular importance in patients with CP.
Goal: To evaluate the nutritional status of patients with CP who are treated at the Pediatric Clinic, Clinical Centre of Sarajevo University and causes of malnutrition in these patients.
Materials and methods: Eighty patients with CP underwent anthropometric assessment (body weight, body height, body mass index, head circumference, subscapular skinfold thickness, triceps skinfold thickness and mid upper arm muscle circumference). Severity of CP was classified based on the Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS). We compared the anthropometric parameters of our patients with normal values of healthy children, as well as with degree of motor impairment, oromotor dysfunction, feeding assistance, length of meals and daily feeding time.
Results: There were significant differences in all monitored parameters in relation to normal values, with 38 (47.5%) malnourished patients in the total group, out of which 29 (63.0%) with severe motor impairment and with 9 (11.3%) obese patients in the total group. The presence of oromotor dysfunction and other monitored parameters had a significant impact on the nutritional status of these patients.
Conclusion: In severely disabled patients with CP there is a risk of profound malnutrition. Early identification and treatment of these patients is very important for their growth, development and health.
Keywords: anthropometric parameters; cerebral palsy; nutritional status; oromotor dysfunction.