Body composition in children with spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the pattern of body composition and nutritional status in a group of prepubertal children with spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy (SQCP) compared with healthy control children.


METHODS
Subjects were enrolled for this cross-sectional study from two tertiary care settings. One hundred thirty-six subjects with SQCP, 2 to 12 years of age, were evaluated by anthropometric measures, or by anthropometric and total body water (TBW) measures (n = 28), with 39 control subjects.


RESULTS
Body composition and nutritional status indicators were significantly reduced in children with SQCP. Accretion of fat-free mass with age was smaller for children with SQCP. Calculation of body fat from two skin folds correlated best with measures of fat mass from TBW.


CONCLUSIONS
Malnutrition is common in children with SQCP. Clinically available, serial anthropometric measures enable the clinician to identify malnourished children with SQCP.
Stallings
V A
VA
Division of Gastroenterology, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, USA.
Cronk
C E
CE
Zemel
B S
BS
Charney
E B
EB
D000367:Age Factors; D000886:Anthropometry; D001823:Body Composition; D001834:Body Water; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002547:Cerebral Palsy / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002648:Child; D015362:Child Nutrition Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000628:therapy; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004750:Enteral Nutrition; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009752:Nutritional Status; D011782:Quadriplegia / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012885:Skinfold Thickness; D013035:Spasm