Children with Cerebral Palsy: Caregivers' Nutrition Knowledge, Attitudes and Beliefs.

Knowledge is lacking about the feeding relationship between caregivers and children with cerebral palsy (CP). In this relationship, the child's dependency and the caregiver's influence on the child's nutrition may be magnified. A questionnaire was developed to examine caregivers' nutrition knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs. Reliability and validity were pretested with groups independent of the study. The questionnaire was administered to CP caregivers (n=52, 34% response rate) and a comparison group of non-CP caregivers (n=35). Over half of the children with CP were mildly to moderately affected by physical disability and presented with few oral-motor difficulties. Caregivers' perceptions of children's feeding behaviour did not differ between the two groups (p>0.05). Significant differences were evident in nutrition knowledge, as well as on one of two attitude scales and one of two belief scales measured. Non-CP caregivers scored higher in nutrition knowledge (p<0.001), had a more positive attitude about the importance of nutrition (p<0.05), and had a more positive belief in the relationship between nutrition and health (p<0.05). Results suggest that non-nutritional factors may have a higher priority with those caring for children with CP. Further investigation is warranted to examine the role that nutrition has in the care of children with various degrees of disability from CP. and inflammatory modulation.

Examination of physical activity in adolescents over the school year.

This study monitored the physical activity behavior of adolescent students over a ten month school year. Physical activity was assessed at two month intervals using self-report and objective (Actical accelerometers) measures. Self-report results (n = 547) indicated a decline in physical activity throughout the school year for all grades and genders. The decline was attributed largely to a decrease in organized activity participation. Objective physical activity results (n = 40) revealed a significant decline in activity in the latter half of the school year (February to June). Declining physical activity was attributed to a decrease in vigorous activity which was consistent across grade and gender. Collectively, the results highlight the importance of promoting consistent opportunities for adolescents to be active throughout the school year.