Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 11, 2026
Clinical Efficacy of an Innovative Multidimensional Traction Therapy in Moderate Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis
Published on: February 10, 2026
Anthropometric assessment of patients with cerebral palsy: which curves are more appropriate?
Liubiana A Araújo1, Luciana R Silva
1Programa de Pós-graduação em Medicina e Saúde, Universidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA), Salvador, BA, Brazil. lregazzoni@neuromodulationlab.org
Insights
Standard growth charts overestimate malnutrition in children with cerebral palsy (CP). Specific CP growth curves are crucial for accurate nutritional assessment, especially when digestive issues are present.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Nutrition
- Neurology
- Growth Monitoring
Background:
- Accurate nutritional assessment is vital for children with cerebral palsy (CP).
- General pediatric growth curves may not accurately reflect growth patterns in children with CP.
- Digestive manifestations are common in CP and can impact nutritional status.
Purpose of the Study:
- To describe the nutritional status of children with CP.
- To compare growth curve correlations specific to CP with general pediatric curves.
- To assess digestive manifestations associated with nutritional problems in this population.
Main Methods:
- Cross-sectional study of 187 individuals with CP.
- Evaluation of anthropometric data using general pediatric and CP-specific growth curves.
- Assessment of dysphagia, constipation, and recurrent respiratory infections.
Main Results:
- Using general growth curves (CDC) identified 51% of children below the 10th percentile for weight, versus 10% using CP-specific curves (p < 0.01).
- A significant correlation between general and CP-specific curves was not found (Kappa 0.19).
- Children with dysphagia (67%), respiratory infections (75%), and constipation (72%) were more likely to have weight below the 50th percentile.
Conclusions:
- General pediatric growth references can overestimate malnutrition in children with CP.
- There is a low correlation between commonly used pediatric growth curves and those specific to CP.
- Digestive issues are linked to poorer anthropometric measurements in children with CP.
Objective:
To describe the nutritional assessment of children with cerebral palsy, verifying the correlation of growth curves specific for cerebral palsy with general curves, in addition to assessing the presence of digestive manifestations associated with nutritional problems.
Methods:
This was a cross-sectional study of 187 individuals with cerebral palsy, evaluating anthropometric data in curves commonly used in pediatrics and specific curves for cerebral palsy, in addition to the description of presence of dysphagia, constipation, and respiratory infections.
Results:
58% of patients were males, with a mean age of 5.6 ± 3.5 years. Anthropometric data of weight below the 10th percentile occurred in 10% of the sample considering the cerebral palsy scale, versus 51% when considering the reference from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (p < 0.01; Kappa 0.19). The weight of most individuals with dysphagia, recurrent respiratory infections, and constipation was below the 50th percentile, with respective percentages of 67%, 75%, and 72%.
Conclusion:
The references commonly used in pediatrics tend to overestimate malnutrition in individuals with cerebral palsy, and their correlation with specific references for cerebral palsy is low. Digestive manifestations were mainly found in those individuals whose anthropometric measurements were below the 50th percentile.
Related Concept Videos
01:23Guidelines for Sketching a Curve
01:16Vertebral Column: Regions and Curvature
Regions of the Vertebral Column
In an adult, the spine is subdivided into five regions: the cervical, the thoracic, the lumbar, the sacral, and the coccygeal region. The spine initially develops as a series of 33 vertebrae; after 20 years of age, the nine bones in the sacral region, five sacral, and four coccygeal bones fuse to form the...