Poor Nutrition Of Children Research Articles

Abstract 7: Outcomes of a day feeding program in children with cerebral palsy

Objective: To examine the effectiveness of a pediatric feeding program for children with cerebral palsy (CP) and dysphasia. Design: Case series. Setting: Pediatric specialty hospital. Participants: 26 children admitted to a feeding program between 1999 and 2001. All participants were consuming inadequate diets and had failed traditional outpatient therapies. Interventions: The feeding program consisted of a day treatment program during which participants received 4 therapeutic meals. Attendance was 5 days a week for 4 to 6 weeks. Therapeutic interventions included the use of oral motor facilities techniques simultaneously with behavioral strategies. Main Outcome Measures: Anthropometric (weight, height, ideal body weight) data was collected on admission, discharge, and at 1, 4, 7 and 12 months posttreatment. Percentage of bites accepted was measured at time of admission and discharge from the program. Results: Participants showed improvements in both weight (mean, .767±.675; P≤.001) and height (mean, 1.028±0.675; P≤.001) from admission to discharge. Weight z scores also increased (mean, .446±.505; P≤.001) during this period. Percentage of bites accepted at discharge was significantly greater than the percentage accepted at admission (mean, 31.65±24.12; P≤.001). Improvements were maintained after discharge from the program. Although the weight gain between discharge and 1 month follow-up and between 1 and 4 months follow-up were not statistically significant, there were significant increases in height during these periods (mean, 1.378±1.237, P≤.001; mean, 1.954±1.696, P≤.001). Statistically significant weight and height gains were seen between 4 and 7 months and between 7 months and 1 year postdischarge. Conclusions: Poor nutrition in children with CP has been associated with increased health care costs, decreased functioning, and poorer social interaction. This study provides evidence of the effectiveness of a pediatric feeding program for this population.

Trading nutrition for education: nutritional status and the sale of snack foods in an eastern Kentucky school.

Overweight and poor nutrition of children in the United States are becoming issues of increasing concern for public health. Dietary patterns of U.S. children indicate they are consuming too few fruits and vegetables and too many foods high in fat and sugar. Contributing to this pattern of food consumption is snacking, which is reported to be on the increase among adults and children alike. One place where snacking is under increased scrutiny, and where it is being increasingly criticized, is in U.S. schools, where snack foods are often sold to supplement inadequate budgets. This article takes a biocultural approach to understanding the nutritional status of elementary school children in a rural community in eastern Kentucky. It pays particular attention to the ways in which the school's nutrition environment shapes overweight and nutritional status for many of the children, focusing on the sale of snack foods and the reasons behind the principal's decision to sell snack foods in the school.