Body mass index and fitness in high-functioning children and adolescents with cerebral palsy: What happened over a decade?

Abstract

Background: In recent decades, improving fitness has become an important goal in rehabilitation medicine in children and adolescents with cerebral palsy (CP).

Aims: To compare body mass index (BMI), performance-related fitness, and cardiorespiratory fitness of children with CP measured in 2014 with a comparable sample from 2004.

Methods and procedures: In total, 25 high-functioning children with CP (i.e., GMFCS I-II) measured in 2004 (13 boys; mean age 13.2 (2.6) years) were matched to 25 children measured in 2014. Outcomes included body mass and BMI, muscle power sprint test (MPST), 10×5m sprint test, and a shuttle run test (SRT). Data of 15 participants from 2004 (10 boys; mean age 12.6 (2.5) years) were matched and analysed for VO₂peak.

Outcomes and results: Body mass and BMI were higher (both: p<0.05) in the 2014 cohort compared to the 2004 cohort. Further, performance-related fitness was better for the 2014 cohort on the MPST (p=0.004), the 10×5m sprint test (p=0.001), and the SRT (p<0.001). However, there were no differences for VO₂peak.

Conclusions and implications: In high-funcitoning children with CP, there are positive ecological time trends in performance-related fitness, but not in VO₂peak between 2004 and 2014. The substantial higher body mass and BMI is alarming and requires further investigation.

Keywords: Adolescents; Cerebral palsy; Children; Health; Physical fitness; Rehabilitation.