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Nutritional intake in children with cerebral palsy and typically developing peers: A comprehensive study using a
Ineke Verreydt1, Daisy Rymen2, Lauraine Staut3
1Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, KU Leuven, Belgium.
Background & Aims:
Nutrition might play a key role in addressing structural alterations in children with cerebral palsy (CP). However, a comprehensive description of their nutritional intake, and comparison to typically developing (TD) peers, using a low-burden assessment method, is lacking. The aim was to (1) propose a novel smartphone application to register nutritional intake; (2) comprehensively describe nutritional intake in children with CP in comparison to the nutritional guidelines; and (3) in comparison to TD peers.
Methods:
A prospective cross-sectional observational study was conducted in ambulant children with spastic CP and TD peers. Nutritional intake was assessed using a 3-day estimated food record, logged in a novel smartphone application 'Digital Diary'. The intra-rater inter-session reliability of the Digital Diary was analyzed using the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) and Standard Error of Measurements (SEM). The independent t-test investigated differences between the total samples of children with CP and TD children, and between the different age and CP-severity groups.
Results:
Fifty-five children with spastic CP (6.51 ± 3.10 years) and 50 TD children (7.26 ± 2.85 years) were included. ICC varied from poor to good reliability, depending on the nutritional parameter. All children with CP and TD children met the daily protein intake guideline, but only half had a sufficient daily energy intake. This insufficient energy intake was not mirrored in their weight-for-height standard deviations. No significant differences (p > 0.05) exceeding the calculated SEM values were present between different CP-severity levels or between TD children and children with CP.
Conclusions:
The Digital Diary offers a time-efficient way to record nutritional intake. Although its test-retest reliability varied, key SEM values were reported to support more accurate interpretation. This study underscores the need to investigate the basal metabolic rate and overall energy requirements of children with CP in order to develop accurate, population-specific nutritional guidelines.
