The Impact of Neurological Disorders on Nutritional Status and Growth of Children: Muhimbili National Hospital, Tanzania

The aim of this study was to assess the impact that neurological disability has on nutritional status of children. A total of 123 children (78 male and 45 female) with neurological disorders were recruited from Muhimbili National Hospital. Anth- ropometric measurements, nutrition history and community practices towards children with neurological disabilities were as- sessed. One-way ANOVA was used to compare the mean score value of anthropometric indices for the three categories of disability. The observed neurological disorders are Cerebral palsy (n=84); Global developmental delay (n=26); Mental retarda- tion (n=2), Down syndrome (n=2), Erb"s palsy (n=1), Attention deficiency Hyperactive disorder (ADHD) (n=2) and Muscular dystrophy (n=6).Mild (13%), moderate (68.3%) and severe (18.7%) disability conditions were observed. The mean± Standard deviation scores for anthropometric indices was; WAZ -2.10 ±1.9, LAZ -2.4 ±2.1, WLZ -1.06 ±1.9, MUACA -1.03 ±1.5 and HCA - 2.44 ±2.3. Under nutrition was revealed by stunting (64.2%), underweight (54.4%) wasting (36.6%), thinness (26.8%) and microcephaly (53.7%). A significant difference in mean scores for weight, length, Mid upper arm circumference(MUAC), head circumference(HC), and Z core values for MUAC and HC at p<0.05 for three categories of disability was observed. Al- so20.3% of children had swallowing dysfunctions at the time of study, and 70.7% of caregivers didn"t know the nutritional requirements of their children. Inadequate food intake, food losses during feeding, Oromotor dysfunction, Nutritional ignorance, and poverty were found to contribute to under nutrition of the children studied. Findings suggest a significant relationship between severity of neurological impairment and child"s poor nutritional status.