Journal
ACTA PAEDIATRICA
Volume 104, Issue 12, Pages 1259-1268Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1111/apa.13089
Keywords
Cerebral palsy; Children; Malnutrition; Uganda; World Health Organization growth standards
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Funding
- Belgian Government through the Belgian Technical Cooperation
- Uganda Country Office
- Karolinska Institute, Sweden
- Swedish International Development Agency
- African Doctoral Dissertation Research Fellowship from the African Population and Health Research Centre
- Ford Foundation
- Foundation FrimurarnaBarnhuset
- Swedish Research Council
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Aim: Poor growth and malnutrition are frequently reported in children with cerebral palsy in developed countries, but there is limited information from developing countries. We investigated the nutritional status of Ugandan children with cerebral palsy and described the factors associated with poor nutrition. Methods: We examined 135 children from two to 12 years with cerebral palsy, who attended Uganda's national referral hospital. A child was considered underweight, wasted, stunted or thin if the standard deviation scores for their weight for age, weight for height, height for age and body mass index for age were <=similar to 2.0 using World Health Organization growth standards. Multivariable logistic regression identified the factors associated with nutritional indicators. Results: Over half (52%) of the children were malnourished, with underweight (42%) being the most common category, followed by stunting (38%), thinness (21%) and wasting (18%). Factors that were independently associated with being malnourished were as follows: presence of cognitive impairment, with an adjusted odds ratio (aOR) of 4.5, being 5 years or older (aOR = 3.4) and feeding difficulties in the perinatal period (aOR = 3.2). Conclusion: Malnutrition was common in Ugandan children with cerebral palsy and more likely if they were 5 years or more or had experienced neonatal complications.
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