EVALUATION OF PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT IN CHILDREN WITH BRONCHIAL ASTHMA

Abstract

Among the diseases capable of negatively affecting the course of bronchial asthma in children and adolescents, disruptions in nutritional status play an important role, including not only excess body weight and obesity, but also insufficient body weight. Since children with the consequences of perinatal central nervous system damage often exhibit signs of protein-energy deficiency, the aim of the research conducted was to assess the indicators of nutritional status of children with bronchial asthma depending on accompanying neurological symptoms by evaluating the body mass index. 126 children with bronchial asthma were examined, divided into two subgroups: the main group included 65 children (51.6%) with the disease occurring against the background of consequences of perinatal central nervous system damage; the comparison group included 61 patients (48.4%) without accompanying neurological symptoms. The average age of the children was 11.4±2.9 years. According to the results obtained, in 50.8% of observations, children in the main group had insufficient body weight and a decrease in body mass index, while in the comparison group, excess body weight was observed in 37.7% of cases. KEYWORDS: children, bronchial asthma, anthropometry, body mass index, nutritional status, central nervous system