Nutritional status of children with epilepsy, attending the Pediatric Neurology Clinic of University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu

Abstract

Background: Malnutrition is a direct or underlying cause of 45% of all deaths of under-five children in Nigeria. Nigeria has one of the highest burden of malnourished children in the world. Certain vulnerable groups such as children with chronic diseases are often neglected in nutritional studies. Objective: This study sought to determine the prevalence of malnutrition among children with epilepsy, attending the Neurology Clinic of the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital. Materials and Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study. Study participants were epileptic children aged 6 months to 18 years. Socio-economic status was determined using the Oyedeji classification. Weight and height were measured using standard protocols. The weight for height, body mass index for age, and height for age z-scores were calculated using the WHO Anthro and Anthro Plus software. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20.0, and significant p-values were set at less than 0.05. Results: One hundred and twenty children with epilepsy aged 6 months to 18 years who met the inclusion criteria were included in the study. Seventy-eight (65%) were males; (male: female ratio = 1: 0.5). The overall prevalence of wasting, stunting, overweight, and obesity were 5.8%, 9.2%, 10.8%, and 5.8%, respectively. There were no statistically significant differences between various forms of malnutrition and the gender, age group, and socio-economic status of study participants (p > 0.05). Conclusion: Overweight was the most common form of malnutrition, followed by stunting among the epileptic children. There is need for regular anthropometric monitoring of children with drug-naive epilepsy with targeted interventions to correct malnutrition in them during the course of epilepsy management.