title: Malnutrition is common in Ugandan children with cerebral palsy, particularly those over the age of five and those who had neonatal complications.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Poor growth and malnutrition are frequently reported in children with cerebral palsy in developed countries, but there is limited information from developing countries. We investigated the nutritional status of Ugandan children with cerebral palsy and described the factors associated with poor nutrition.
  
  
  METHODS
  We examined 135 children from two to 12 years with cerebral palsy, who attended Uganda's national referral hospital. A child was considered underweight, wasted, stunted or thin if the standard deviation scores for their weight for age, weight for height, height for age and body mass index for age were ≤-2.0 using World Health Organization growth standards. Multivariable logistic regression identified the factors associated with nutritional indicators.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Over half (52%) of the children were malnourished, with underweight (42%) being the most common category, followed by stunting (38%), thinness (21%) and wasting (18%). Factors that were independently associated with being malnourished were as follows: presence of cognitive impairment, with an adjusted odds ratio (aOR) of 4.5, being 5 years or older (aOR = 3.4) and feeding difficulties in the perinatal period (aOR = 3.2).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Malnutrition was common in Ugandan children with cerebral palsy and more likely if they were 5 years or more or had experienced neonatal complications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics & Child Health, Makerere University College of Health Sciences and Mulago Hospital, Kampala, Uganda.|Neuropaediatric Unit, Department of Women's & Children's Health, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Angelina
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kakooza-Mwesige
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics & Child Health, Makerere University College of Health Sciences and Mulago Hospital, Kampala, Uganda.
authors.forename: James K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Tumwine
authors.affiliation: Neuropaediatric Unit, Department of Women's & Children's Health, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Ann-Christin
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Eliasson
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics & Child Health, Makerere University College of Health Sciences and Mulago Hospital, Kampala, Uganda.
authors.forename: Hanifa K
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Namusoke
authors.affiliation: Neuropaediatric Unit, Department of Women's & Children's Health, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Forssberg
mesh_terms: D002547:Cerebral Palsy / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D044342:Malnutrition / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D009752:Nutritional Status; D014454:Uganda / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Cerebral palsy; Children; Malnutrition; Uganda; World Health Organization growth standards