Nutritional profile of preschool children with cerebral palsy attending a tertiary care medical rehabilitation centre in a low-and-middle-income country

Purpose: Optimal nutrition during the early years of life is essential for maintaining optimal health across the lifespan and in children with cerebral palsy (CCP) it might enhance the motor function. Hence, we aimed to assess the status of malnutrition and the underlying risk factors among children with CP Materials & Methods: After screening, 483 CCP, 120 CCP, aged between 2 and 4 years of age were recruited from tertiary care medical rehabilitation centre through simple random sampling technique. Demographic dimensions include, age, gender, weight, height, arm circumference, head circumference, body temperature, and other indicators like, neurological signs, and socio-economic status were collected. Nutritional profile was reported using WHO Z score charts. Chi-square statistics was used to derive the association between Results: After screening, 483 CCP, 120 CCP [75 (62.50%) male and 45 (37.50%) female] aged 2- 4 years participated. 40.8% and 41.6% were identified to be underweight and stunned growth. Statistical significance association using Chi-square was reported only in age between 2 to 3 and 3 to 4 years in underweight (p=0.027) and stunning (p=0.0028). Conclusion: Nutritional status of preschool children with cerebral palsy attending a tertiary care medical rehabilitation centre have been reported. Age has significant association to weight and height in CCP. Keywords: Cerebral palsy; Children; Growth; Nutritional status.