Objective:

The purpose of this study is to investigate body weight percentile of the children with cerebral palsy and to determine if the associated problems influence the body weight percentile of children with cerebral palsy.

Material and Methods:

This study was designed as a retrospective study. One hundred nineteen children, aged between 0 and 16 years, were studied. Demographic and body weight percentile (BWP) were collected in our cerebral palsy outpatient clinic from the patients’ file between March 2008-October 2009.

Descriptive statistical methods, Chi-square, Mann Whitney u-test, Indepent t-test and spearman corelation were used.

Results:

The mean age of 119 patients was 6.03 years (0-16 years). 65.5 % were boys and 34.5 % were girls. Body weight percentile (BWP) mean was 25.6 and 55.5 % of patients were underweight (<10 percentile). BWP was significantly correlated with mother age and it was not correlated with caregivers’ education years. According to gender, epilepsy and mental retardation presence BWP were not significantly different. 8.8 % of the patients’ BWP were >95.

Conclusion:

Sometimes growth retardation and obesity might be overlooked since the other associated problems are given importance. BWP and other antropometric measures should be followed up. Caregiver training and nutritional management should be arranged for undernourished children to promote their nutritional status and improve growth and functional capacity.

Keywords: cerebral palsy, growth disorders, obesity, malnutrition