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. 2021 Jul 25;13(8):2537.
doi: 10.3390/nu13082537.

Nutritional Status of Children with Cerebral Palsy in Gorkha, Nepal: Findings from the Nepal Cerebral Palsy Register

Israt Jahan  1   2   3 , Mohammad Muhit  1   2 , Mahmudul Hassan Al Imam  1   2   3   4 , Ratul Ghose  1   2 , Amir Banjara Chhetri  5 , Nadia Badawi  6   7 , Gulam Khandaker  3   4   8
Affiliations

Nutritional Status of Children with Cerebral Palsy in Gorkha, Nepal: Findings from the Nepal Cerebral Palsy Register

Israt Jahan et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

Background: The study aimed to define the burden and underlying risk factors of malnutrition among children with cerebral palsy (CP) in Gorkha district, Nepal.

Methods: The first population-based register of children with CP in Gorkha, Nepal (i.e., Nepal CP Register-NCPR) was established in 2018. Children aged <18 years with confirmed CP were registered following standard protocol. Nutritional status was determined based on anthropometric measurements (height/length, weight, mid-upper-arm-circumference) following WHO guidelines. Descriptive analyses and adjusted logistic regression were completed.

Results: Between June-October 2018, 182 children with CP were registered into the NCPR (mean (SD) age at assessment: 10.3 (5.0) years, 37.4% female). Overall, 51.7%, 64.1%, and 29.3% children were underweight, stunted, and thin, respectively. Furthermore, 14.3% of children with CP aged <5 years had severe wasting. Underweight and stunting were significantly higher among children with spastic CP (p = 0.02, p < 0.001) and/or Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) level (III-V) (p = 0.01, p < 0.001) and/or who were not enrolled in school (p = 0.01, p < 0.001). In adjusted analysis, GMFCS level III-V and non-attendance to school significantly increased the odds of stunting by 8.2 (95% CI 1.6, 40.8) and 4.0 (95% CI 1.2, 13.2) times, respectively.

Conclusions: the high rate of different forms of undernutrition among children with CP in Gorkha, Nepal is concerning. Need-based intervention should be taken as priority to improve their nutritional outcome.

Keywords: Nepal; cerebral palsy (CP); disability; key informant method; malnutrition.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Overlapping of different forms of undernutrition among children with CP in NCPR. Here, (A) = Total number of children who were underweight with or without other forms of undernutrition; (B) = total number of children who were stunted with or without other forms of undernutrition; (C) = total number of children who were thin with or without other forms of undernutrition; (D) = children who were underweight only; (E) = children who were stunted only; (F) = children who were thin only; (G) = children who were both underweight and thin; (H) = children who were both underweight and stunted; (I) = children who were both stunted and thin; (J) children who had all three forms of undernutrition (i.e., underweight, stunting, thinness); * Missing data; ** was assessed for children aged at or over 4 years.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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