Malnutrition and nutritional deficiencies in children with cerebral palsy

A recent systematic review study and meta-analysis by D.C.G. da Silva et al. estimated the prevalence of malnutrition and nutritional deficiencies in children with cerebral palsy (C.P.).

Their study followed the PRISMA guidelines and sorted the relevant articles using PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, SciELO, and Lilacs databases and the bibliographical reference lists of the articles. They included the articles if they contained children from 0 to 18 years old with C.P. who presented the prevalence of malnutrition and nutritional deficiencies.

The study included sixty-seven articles (N = 453,804) published between 1986 and 2019, with the majority showing a low risk of bias. The study excluded no publications for quality reasons. It found the most widely used anthropometric index for diagnosing nutritional status was weight-to-age, and the estimated prevalence of malnutrition was 40%. Nine publications investigating nutrient deficiency found hypocalcemia and reduced serum concentrations of zinc, copper, and vitamin D as the most prevalent.

The researchers found a high malnutrition rate in the population through this study. They suggested that some nutritional deficiencies are associated with food deficits and that these children's socio-economic and age factors may relate to poor nutritional outcomes. Hence, monitoring and personalized nutritional management are necessary, considering the characteristics and particularities of children with C.P.

Source: Public Health. 2022;205:192-201. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2022.01.024.