 Dietary assessment of children with cerebral palys: case control study in Isparta

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate nutrient intakes and dietary assessment of the children with cerebral palsy (CP) in our region, and to investigate the effects of various factors specific to this condition. Method: Forty-three children (24 males 19 females; mean age 8.1±4.2 years) with CP admitting to an outpatient center were included in the study. In addition, a control group of 27 children were recruited from the siblings of the children with CP. All caretakers were interviewed and a three-day dietary record of the children with CP and controls were obtained. Results: Overall, 32.6% of the children were quadriplegic, 44.2% diplegic and 14.0% hemiplegic. The mean percent of the Recommended Dietary Allowances for energy intake was lower in the children with CP than that in the controls (p<0.05), while no differences were detected between the groups according to protein, calcium, iron and vitamin C intakes. We also observed that there were differences in the amount of daily nutrients in the CP group according to some characteristic like gender and age. Conclusion: These results showed that daily nutrient intakes of the children with CP in Isparta province are insufficient. Key words: Cerebral palsy, children, nutritional intake, dietary assessment.