Children with brain tumors: a study of nutritional status on hospital admission

Abstract

Objective: to assess the nutritional status of children with brain tumors on hospital admission and to verify whether the nutritional status varies according to the type of tumor. Methods: anthropometric data of 30 children between 2 and 10 years old, of both sexes, with brain tumors and admitted to a hospital in the city of São Paulo, Brazil, were evaluated. Secondary data collection allowed to assess and classify the Z-scores of the body mass index, percentage of adequacy of the triceptal skinfold and the arm muscle circumference, carried out between the years 2004 and 2011. Results: The frequencies of brain tumors were: 33.3% astrocytic, 40% embryonal, 10% of the seal region and 16.6% ependimals. The median age and body mass index Z scores were 5.5 years (4.0 and 7.0) and 0.66 SD (- 1.41 and 0.87), respectively. The median percentage of adequacy of arm muscle circumference was 98% (88.9 and 103.2) and the triceptal skinfold was 83.2% (57.0 and 106.6). As for nutritional status, 21 (70%) of the children were eutrophic; 7 (23.3%) overweight and 2 (6.7%) with malnutrition/wasting showing no significant difference between groups of brain tumors (p = 0.721). The percentages of adequacy of the triceptal skinfold and of the arm muscle circumference also showed no significant difference between the different types of brain tumors (p = 0.865 and p = 0.860, respectively). Conclusion: at the time of hospital admission, the children were in good nutritional status, regardless of the type of brain tumor.