Purpose of research. To assess the impact of the severity of motor disorders in children with cerebral palsy on nutritional status.
Materials and methods of research. The study included 102 children with cerebral palsy aged 2 to 17 years, 60 boys (58.8%) and 42 girls (41.2%). The average age of the children was 7.23 ± 4.9 years. Patients were ranked by age group in accordance with the age classification of the GMFCS scale. All children underwent a comprehensive clinical and neurological examination, nutritional status assessment, and anthropometry (measurement of shoulder circumference and plicometry). During anthropometry, the control group included 30 healthy children with an average age of 7.7±4.2 years.
Results. It was found that with an increase in the severity of motor disorders, the number of children with protein-energy deficiency increases from 50% at level I to 100% at level V on the GMFCS scale (the significance of differences in Pearson's Chi-square was confirmed statistically: 9.32, p = 0.002069). At the same time, a severe degree of protein-energy insufficiency was observed mainly in double hemiplegia (amounting to 40.9%). Prognostically, cerebral palsy was the most favorable type of spastic hemiparesis and spastic diplegia, with a predominance of protein-energy insufficiency of a mild degree, amounting to 45.8% and 60%, respectively. In 71.6% of cases (n=73), children with cerebral palsy were diagnosed with oral-motor dysfunction of varying severity, problems with food consumption and, as a result, a noticeable lag in anabolic processes. Statistically significant differences were found in the frequency of feeding difficulties in children with levels I and V of motor abilities (Pearson's Chi-square: 20.12, p = 0.000005).
