Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Brief Communication
  • Published:

Prevalence of under and over weight in children with neurodisability, using body composition measures

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 72, pages 1451–1454 (2018)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

We aimed to compare rates of under and overweight in children with different neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD) by measuring weight, height/length, arm-to-leg bioelectrical impedance (BIA) and subscapular and triceps skinfolds in 146 children aged 4–16 years attending special schools. Z scores were calculated and skinfolds and lean mass Z scores were further adjusted for height. Underweight was found in 9% (14) children (body mass index (BMI) < 2nd) but only 3% (4) had skinfolds <5th centile. Overweight was much commoner, with 41% (58) children having BMI > 95th and 20% (14) had skinfolds >95th centile. Children with cerebral palsy were very short with low BMI and lean mass, but only 8% (3) had skinfolds <5th centile. The children with Down syndrome were also very short and once adjusted for height, half had skinfolds >95th centile. We conclude that overweight and raised body fat is now common in children with NDD, even when the BMI is low.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Strand KM, Dahlseng MO, Lydersen S, Ro TB, Finbraten AK, Jahnsen RB. et al. Growth during infancy and early childhood in children with cerebral palsy: a population-based study. Dev Med Child Neurol. 2016;58:924–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Neter JE, Schokker DF, de Jong E, Renders CM, Seidell JC, Visscher TLS. The prevalence of overweight and obesity and its determinants in children with and without disabilities. J Pediatr. 2011;158:735–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Brooks J, Day S, Shavelle R, Strauss D. Low weight, morbidity, and mortality in children with cerebral palsy: new clinical growth charts. Pediatrics. 2011;128:e299–307.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Sullivan PB, Alder N, Bachlet AM, Grant H, Juszczak E, Henry J, et al. Gastrostomy feeding in cerebral palsy: too much of a good thing? Dev Med Child Neurol. 2006;48:877–82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Romano C, van Wynckel M, Hulst J, Broekaert I, Bronsky J, Dall’Oglio L. et al. European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition Guidelines for the evaluation and treatment of gastrointestinal and nutritional complications in children with neurological impairment. J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr. 2017;65:242–64.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Sherriff A, Wright CM, Reilly JJ, McColl J, Ness A, Emmett P. Age- and sex-standardised lean and fat indices derived from bioelectrical impedance analysis for ages 7-11 years: functional associations with cardio-respiratory fitness and grip strength. Br J Nutr. 2009;101:1753–60.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Liu LF, Roberts R, Moyer-Mileur L, Samson-Fang L. Determination of body composition in children with cerebral palsy: bioelectrical impedance analysis and anthropometry vs dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry. J Am Diet Assoc. 2005;105:794–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Gonzalez-Aguero A, Ara I, Moreno LA, Vicente-Rodriguez G, Casajus JA. Fat and lean masses in youths with Down syndrome: gender differences. Res Dev Disabil. 2011;32:1685–93.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Gurka MJ, Kuperminc MN, Busby MG, Bennis JA, Grossberg RI, Houlihan CM. et al. Assessment and correction of skinfold thickness equations in estimating body fat in children with cerebral palsy. Dev Med Child Neurol. 2010;52:e35–e41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Wright CM, Sherriff A, Ward SC, McColl JH, Reilly JJ, Ness AR. Development of bioelectrical impedance-derived indices of fat and fat-free mass for assessment of nutritional status in childhood. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2008;62:210–7.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Wells JC. A Hattori chart analysis of body mass index in infants and children. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 2000;24:325–9.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Paediatric Epidemiology and Child Health Unit, Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Yorkhill and the University of Glasgow. The authors would like to thank all the parents who gave consent behalf of their children to take part in the study. This study would not have been made possible without the invaluable support of school nurses and head teachers. This study was supported by funding from the University of Glasgow as part of a project for Intercalated BSc. Med Sci. Degree.

Author contributions:

CW organized the design and supervised the study. AC and SL wrote the ethics application and prepared the relevant documentation. SL carried out the field work, data entry and initial data analysis and wrote the first draft of the manuscript. CW undertook further analyses and wrote the final draft, which was reviewed by all authors before submission.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Child Health, School of Medicine, MVLS College, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK

    Stefanie Zhao Lin Lip & Charlotte M Wright

  2. Royal Hospital for Sick Children, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Glasgow, UK

    Anna Chillingworth

Authors
  1. Stefanie Zhao Lin Lip
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Anna Chillingworth
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Charlotte M Wright
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Charlotte M Wright.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval:

Ethical approval was obtained from Glasgow City Council Educational Services, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde Research Ethics Service and the West of Scotland Regional Ethics Service (REC:10/S0703/77). Consent was requested from head teachers of special schools before commencing data collection.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Lip, S.Z.L., Chillingworth, A. & Wright, C.M. Prevalence of under and over weight in children with neurodisability, using body composition measures. Eur J Clin Nutr 72, 1451–1454 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-018-0168-0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-018-0168-0

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links