A lifestyle screening tool for young children in the community: needs and wishes of parents and youth healthcare professionals.

BACKGROUND: Youth healthcare has an important role in promoting a healthy lifestyle in young children in order to prevent lifestyle-related health problems. To aid youth healthcare in this task, a new lifestyle screening tool will be developed. The aim of this study was to explore how youth healthcare professionals (YHCP) could best support parents in improving their children's lifestyle using a new lifestyle screening tool for young children. METHODS: We conducted four and seven focus groups among parents (N = 25) and YHCP (N = 25), respectively. Two main topics were addressed: the experiences with current practice of youth healthcare regarding lifestyle in young children, and the requirements for the lifestyle screening tool to be developed. The focus groups were recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using an inductive approach. RESULTS: Both parents and YHCP indicated that young children's lifestyles are often discussed during youth healthcare appointments. While parents felt that this discussion could be more in-depth, YHCP mainly needed clues to continue the discussion. According to parents and YHCP, a new lifestyle screening tool for young children should be easy to use, take little time and provide courses of action. Moreover, it should be attractive to complete and align with the family concerned. CONCLUSIONS: According to parents and YHCP, a new lifestyle screening tool for young children could be useful to discuss specific lifestyle topics in more detail and to provide targeted advice.

Fetal and infant growth patterns, sleep, and 24-h activity rhythms: a population-based prospective cohort study in school-age children.

The study objective was to explore associations of fetal and infant weight patterns and preterm birth with sleep and 24-h activity rhythm parameters at school-age. In our prospective population-based study, 1327 children were followed from birth to age 10-15 years. Fetal weight was estimated using ultrasound in the second and third trimester of pregnancy. Birth weight and gestational age were available from midwife registries. Infant weight was measured at 6, 12 and 24 months. Fetal and infant weight acceleration or deceleration were defined as a change of >0.67 standard deviation between the corresponding age intervals. At school-age, sleep duration, sleep efficiency, wake after sleep onset, social jetlag, inter-daily stability, and intra-daily variability were assessed using tri-axial wrist actigraphy for 9 consecutive nights. We observed that low birth weight (<2500 g) was associated with 0.24 standard deviation (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.04; 0.43) longer sleep duration compared to normal weight. Compared to normal growth, growth deceleration in fetal life and infancy was associated with 0.40 standard deviation (95% CI 0.07; 0.73) longer sleep duration, 0.44 standard deviation (95% CI 0.14; 0.73) higher sleep efficiency, and -0.41 standard deviation (95% CI -0.76; -0.07) shorter wake after sleep onset. A pattern of normal fetal growth followed by infant growth acceleration was associated with -0.40 standard deviation (95% CI -0.61; -0.19) lower inter-daily stability. Preterm birth was not associated with any sleep or 24-h rhythm parameters. Our findings showed that children with fetal and infant growth restriction had longer and more efficient sleep at school-age, which may be indicative of an increased need for sleep for maturational processes and development after a difficult start in life.

The association of hypoglycemia with outcome of critically ill children in relation to nutritional and blood glucose control strategies.

BACKGROUND: Withholding parenteral nutrition (PN) until one week after PICU admission facilitated recovery from critical illness and protected against emotional and behavioral problems 4 years later. However, the intervention increased the risk of hypoglycemia, which may have counteracted part of the benefit. Previously, hypoglycemia occurring under tight glucose control in critically ill children receiving early PN did not associate with long-term harm. We investigated whether hypoglycemia in PICU differentially associates with outcome in the context of withholding early PN, and whether any potential association with outcome may depend on the applied glucose control protocol. METHODS: In this secondary analysis of the multicenter PEPaNIC RCT, we studied whether hypoglycemia in PICU associated with mortality (N = 1440) and 4-years neurodevelopmental outcome (N = 674) through univariable comparison and multivariable regression analyses adjusting for potential confounders. In patients with available blood samples (N = 556), multivariable models were additionally adjusted for baseline serum NSE and S100B concentrations as biomarkers of neuronal, respectively, astrocytic damage. To study whether an association of hypoglycemia with outcome may be affected by the nutritional strategy or center-specific glucose control protocol, we further adjusted the models for the interaction between hypoglycemia and the randomized nutritional strategy, respectively, treatment center. In sensitivity analyses, we studied whether any association with outcome was different in patients with iatrogenic or spontaneous/recurrent hypoglycemia. RESULTS: Hypoglycemia univariably associated with higher mortality in PICU, at 90 days and 4 years after randomization, but not when adjusted for risk factors. After 4 years, critically ill children with hypoglycemia scored significantly worse for certain parent/caregiver-reported executive functions (working memory, planning and organization, metacognition) than patients without hypoglycemia, also when adjusted for risk factors including baseline NSE and S100B. Further adjustment for the interaction of hypoglycemia with the randomized intervention or treatment center revealed a potential interaction, whereby tight glucose control and withholding early PN may be protective. Impaired executive functions were most pronounced in patients with spontaneous or recurrent hypoglycemia. CONCLUSION: Critically ill children exposed to hypoglycemia in PICU were at higher risk of impaired executive functions after 4 years, especially in cases of spontaneous/recurrent hypoglycemia.

Clusters of lifestyle behaviours and their associations with socio-demographic characteristics in Dutch toddlers.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to identify clusters of lifestyle behaviours in toddlers and assess associations with socio-demographic characteristics. METHODS: We used data from the Dutch National Food Consumption Survey 2012-2016 and included 646 children aged 1-3 years. Based on 24-h dietary recalls and a questionnaire, a two-step cluster analysis was conducted to identify clusters in the intake of fruit, vegetables, sugar-sweetened beverages and unhealthy snacks, physical activity and screen time. Logistic regression models assessed associations between socio-demographic characteristics and cluster allocation. RESULTS: Three clusters emerged from the data. The 'relatively healthy cluster' demonstrated a high intake of fruit and vegetables, low sugar-sweetened beverage and unhealthy snack intake and low screen time. The 'active snacking cluster' was characterised by high unhealthy snack intake and high physical activity, and the 'sedentary sweet beverage cluster' by high intake of sugar-sweetened beverages and high screen time. Children aged 1 year were most likely to be allocated to the 'relatively healthy cluster'. Compared to children of parents with a high education level, children of parents with a low or middle education level were less likely to be in the 'relatively healthy cluster', but more likely to be in the 'sedentary sweet beverage cluster'. CONCLUSION: Clusters of lifestyle behaviours can be distinguished already in children aged 1-3 years. To promote healthy lifestyle behaviour, efforts may focus on maintaining healthy behaviour in 1-year-olds and more on switching towards healthy behaviour in 2- and 3-year-olds.

Catch-Up Growth in Infants and Young Children With Faltering Growth: Expert Opinion to Guide General Clinicians.

Faltering growth (FG) is a problem regularly seen by clinicians in infants and young children (<2 years of age). It can occur due to non-disease-related and disease-related causes and is associated with a wide range of adverse outcomes, including shorter-term effects such as impaired immune responses and increased length of hospital stay, and longer-term consequences, including an impact on schooling and cognitive achievements, short stature, and socioeconomic outcomes. It is essential to detect FG, address underlying causes and support catch-up growth where this is indicated. However, anecdotal reports suggest misplaced fear of promoting accelerated (too rapid) growth may deter some clinicians from adequately addressing FG. An invited international group of experts in pediatric nutrition and growth reviewed the available evidence and guidelines on FG resulting from disease-related and non-disease-related effects on nutritional status in healthy term and small for gestational age infants and children up to the age of 2 years in low-, middle-, and high-income countries. Using a modified Delphi process, we developed practical consensus recommendations to provide clarity and practical recommendations for general clinicians on how FG should be defined in different young child populations at risk, how FG should be assessed and managed, and the role of catch-up growth after a period of FG. We also suggested areas where further research is needed to answer remaining questions on this important issue.

Gastrointestinal Biomarkers and Their Association with Feeding in the First Five Days of Pediatric Critical Illness.

OBJECTIVES: Predicting the patients' tolerance to enteral nutrition (EN) would help clinicians optimize individual nutritional intake. This study investigated the course of several gastrointestinal (GI) biomarkers and their association with EN advancement (ENA) longitudinally during pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) admission. METHODS: This is a secondary analysis of the Early versus Late Parenteral Nutrition in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit randomized controlled trial. EN was started early and increased gradually. The cholecystokinin (CCK), leptin, glucagon, intestinal fatty acid-binding protein 2 (I-FABP2), and citrulline plasma concentrations were measured upon PICU admission, day 3 and day 5. ENA was defined as kcal EN provided as % of predicted resting energy expenditure. The course of the biomarkers and ENA was examined in patients with samples on all time points using Friedman and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests. The association of ENA with the biomarkers was examined using a 2-part mixed-effects model with data of the complete population, adjusted for possible confounders. RESULTS: For 172 patients, median age 8.6 years (first quartile; third quartile: 4.2; 13.4), samples were available, of which 55 had samples on all time points. The median ENA was 0 (0; 0) on admission, 14.5 (0.0; 43.8) on day 3, and 28.0 (7.6; 94.8) on day 5. During PICU stay, CCK and I-FABP2 concentrations decreased significantly, whereas glucagon concentrations increased significantly, and leptin and citrulline remained stable. None of the biomarkers was longitudinally associated with ENA. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the current evidence, CCK, leptin, glucagon, I-FABP2, and citrulline appear to have no added value in predicting ENA in the first 5 days of pediatric critical illness.

Early brain magnetic resonance imaging findings and neurodevelopmental outcome in children with congenital heart disease: A systematic review.

AIM: To investigate the association between early brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings and neurodevelopmental outcome (NDO) in children with congenital heart disease (CHD). METHOD: A search for studies was conducted in Embase, Medline, Web of Science, Cochrane Central, PsycINFO, and Google Scholar. Observational and interventional studies were included, in which patients with CHD underwent surgery before 2 months of age, a brain MRI scan in the first year of life, and neurodevelopmental assessment beyond the age of 1 year. RESULTS: Eighteen studies were included. Thirteen found an association between either quantitative or qualitative brain metrics and NDO: 5 out of 7 studies showed decreased brain volume was significantly associated with worse NDO, as did 7 out of 10 studies on brain injury. Scanning protocols and neurodevelopmental tests varied strongly. INTERPRETATION: Reduced brain volume and brain injury in patients with CHD can be associated with impaired NDO, yet standardized scanning protocols and neurodevelopmental assessment are needed to further unravel trajectories of impaired brain development and its effects on outcome.

Development and evaluation study of FLY-Kids: a new lifestyle screening tool for young children.

Evaluating, discussing, and advising on young children's lifestyles may contribute to timely modification of unhealthy behaviour and prevention of adverse health consequences. We aimed to develop and evaluate a new lifestyle screening tool for children aged 1-3 years. The lifestyle screening tool "FLY-Kids" was developed using data from lifestyle behaviour patterns of Dutch toddlers, age-specific lifestyle recommendations, target group analyses, and a Delphi process. Through 10 items, FLY-Kids generates a dashboard with an overview of the child's lifestyle that can be used as conversation aid. FLY-Kids was completed by parents of children aged 1-3 years attending a regular youth healthcare appointment. Youth healthcare professionals (YHCP) then used the FLY-Kids dashboard to discuss lifestyle with the parents and provided tailored advice. Parents as well as YHCP evaluated the tool after use. Descriptive and correlation statistics were used to determine the usability, feasibility, and preliminary effect of FLY-Kids. Parents (N = 201) scored an average of 3.2 (out of 9, SD 1.6) unfavourable lifestyle behaviours in their children, while 3.0% complied with all recommendations. Most unfavourable behaviours were reported in unhealthy food intake and electronic screen time behaviour. Parents and YHCP regarded FLY-Kids as usable and feasible. The number of items identified by FLY-Kids as requiring attention was associated with the number of items discussed during the appointment (r = 0.47, p < 0.001).     Conclusion: FLY-Kids can be used to identify unhealthy lifestyle behaviour in young children and guide the conversation about lifestyle in preventive healthcare settings. End-users rated FLY-Kids as helpful and user-friendly. What is Known: • A healthy lifestyle is important for optimal growth, development and overall health of young children (1-3 years). • Evaluating, discussing and advising on young children's lifestyles may contribute to timely modification of unhealthy behaviour and prevention of adverse health consequences. What is New: • The new lifestyle screening tool FLY-Kids generates a dashboard with an overview of young children's lifestyle that can be used as conversation aid between parents and youth healthcare professionals. • As parents and youth healthcare professionals rated FLY-Kids as helpful and user-friendly, and the number of items identified by FLY-Kids as requiring attention was associated with the number of items discussed during the appointment, FLY-Kids can be considered guiding the lifestyle discussion in preventive healthcare settings.

Hospital-to-home transitions for children with medical complexity: part 2-a core outcome set.

Appropriate outcome measures as part of high-quality intervention trials are critical to advancing hospital-to-home transitions for Children with Medical Complexity (CMC). Our aim was to conduct a Delphi study and focus groups to identify a Core Outcome Set (COS) that healthcare professionals and parents consider essential outcomes for future intervention research. The development process consisted of two phases: (1) a three-round Delphi study in which different professionals rated outcomes, previously described in a systematic review, for inclusion in the COS and (2) focus groups with parents of CMC to validate the results of the Delphi study. Forty-five professionals participated in the Delphi study. The response rates were 55%, 57%, and 58% in the three rounds, respectively. In addition to the 24 outcomes from the literature, the participants suggested 12 additional outcomes. The Delphi rounds resulted in the following core outcomes: (1) disease management, (2) child's quality of life, and (3) impact on the life of families. Two focus groups with seven parents highlighted another core outcome: (4) self-efficacy of parents.   Conclusion: An evidence-informed COS has been developed based on consensus among healthcare professionals and parents. These core outcomes could facilitate standard reporting in future CMC hospital to home transition research. This study facilitated the next step of COS development: selecting the appropriate measurement instruments for every outcome. What is Known: • Hospital-to-home transition for Children with Medical Complexity is a challenging process. • The use of core outcome sets could improve the quality and consistency of research reporting, ultimately leading to better outcomes for children and families. What is New: • The Core Outcome Set for transitional care for Children with Medical Complexity includes four outcomes: disease management, children's quality of life, impact on the life of families, and self-efficacy of parents.

Neurocognitive, Psychosocial, and Quality of Life Outcomes After Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children Admitted to the PICU.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate neurocognitive, psychosocial, and quality of life (QoL) outcomes in children with Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C) seen 3-6 months after PICU admission. DESIGN: National prospective cohort study March 2020 to November 2021. SETTING: Seven PICUs in the Netherlands. PATIENTS: Children with MIS-C (0-17 yr) admitted to a PICU. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Children and/or parents were seen median (interquartile range [IQR] 4 mo [3-5 mo]) after PICU admission. Testing included assessment of neurocognitive, psychosocial, and QoL outcomes with reference to Dutch pre-COVID-19 general population norms. Effect sizes (Hedges' g ) were used to indicate the strengths and clinical relevance of differences: 0.2 small, 0.5 medium, and 0.8 and above large. Of 69 children with MIS-C, 49 (median age 11.6 yr [IQR 9.3-15.6 yr]) attended follow-up. General intelligence and verbal memory scores were normal compared with population norms. Twenty-nine of the 49 followed-up (59%) underwent extensive testing with worse function in domains such as visual memory, g = 1.0 (95% CI, 0.6-1.4), sustained attention, g = 2.0 (95% CI 1.4-2.4), and planning, g = 0.5 (95% CI, 0.1-0.9). The children also had more emotional and behavioral problems, g = 0.4 (95% CI 0.1-0.7), and had lower QoL scores in domains such as physical functioning g = 1.3 (95% CI 0.9-1.6), school functioning g = 1.1 (95% CI 0.7-1.4), and increased fatigue g = 0.5 (95% CI 0.1-0.9) compared with population norms. Elevated risk for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was seen in 10 of 30 children (33%) with MIS-C. Last, in the 32 parents, no elevated risk for PTSD was found. CONCLUSIONS: Children with MIS-C requiring PICU admission had normal overall intelligence 4 months after PICU discharge. Nevertheless, these children reported more emotional and behavioral problems, more PTSD, and worse QoL compared with general population norms. In a subset undergoing more extensive testing, we also identified irregularities in neurocognitive functions. Whether these impairments are caused by the viral or inflammatory response, the PICU admission, or COVID-19 restrictions remains to be investigated.

Nutritional follow-up in children after discharge: Organisation in a tertiary care centre.

BACKGROUND: Aiming to improve the standard of care for patients with a nutritional intervention, we evaluated how nutritional follow-up (FU) is organised at discharge and after 6 months. METHODS: From 16 November 2020 until 20 December 2020, we retrospectively included patients admitted for > 1 day to the general ward of a tertiary hospital. Medical charts were reviewed for demographics, anthropometric measurements and nutritional interventions (e.g., tube, parenteral nutrition). Involved healthcare provider (HCP), dietitian and speech and language therapist (SLT) were scored. Nutritional care FU was categorised as in a primary, secondary or tertiary care setting. RESULTS: We included 206 (52.4% male) patients, with a median length of stay of 4 (3-8) days. Prehospitalisation 58 (28.2%) patients had a nutritional intervention compared to 74 (35.9%) patients at discharge. In total, 80 (38.8%) patients received nutritional care FU by a total of 114 HCP, and approximately half (53.5%) were dietitians. FU was mostly conducted by a dietitian in the tertiary care (78.7%) and by an SLT in the primary care (54.5%). For 15 (20.3%) patients, the discharge letter included complete reports of nutritional interventions. At 6 months FU, 26.6% of the children still had a nutritional intervention. Mean weight standard deviation score increased significantly between discharge from the hospital and 6 months FU. CONCLUSIONS: A considerable amount of paediatric patients received a nutritional intervention pre- and post-hospitalisation. Nutritional care is organised around a multitude of different HCP; however, not all cases are multidisciplinary. Nutritional care was scarcely reported correctly in the discharge letter.

What We Know About Intracranial Hypertension in Children With Syndromic Craniosynostosis.

OBJECTIVE: A scoping review of literature about mechanisms leading to intracranial hypertension (ICH) in syndromic craniosynostosis (sCS) patients, followed by a narrative synopsis of whether cognitive and behavioral outcome in sCS is more related to genetic origins, rather than the result of ICH. METHODS: The scoping review comprised of a search of keywords in EMBASE, MEDLINE, Web of science, Cochrane Central Register of Trials, and Google scholar databases. Abstracts were read and clinical articles were selected for full-text review and data were extracted using a structured template. A priori, the authors planned to analyze mechanistic questions about ICH in sCS by focusing on 2 key aspects, including (1) the criteria for determining ICH and (2) the role of component factors in the Monro-Kellie hypothesis/doctrine leading to ICH, that is, cerebral blood volume, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), and the intracranial volume. RESULTS: Of 1893 search results, 90 full-text articles met criteria for further analysis. (1) Invasive intracranial pressure measurements are the gold standard for determining ICH. Of noninvasive alternatives to determine ICH, ophthalmologic ones like fundoscopy and retinal thickness scans are the most researched. (2) The narrative review shows how the findings relate to ICH using the Monro-Kellie doctrine. CONCLUSIONS: Development of ICH is influenced by different aspects of sCS: deflection of skull growth, obstructive sleep apnea, venous hypertension, obstruction of CSF flow, and possibly reduced CSF absorption. Problems in cognition and behavior are more likely because of genetic origin. Cortical thinning and problems in visual function are likely the result of ICH.

Non-Surgical Respiratory Management in Relation to Feeding and Growth in Patients with Robin Sequence; a Prospective Longitudinal Study.

OBJECTIVE: To reflect upon our non-surgical respiratory management by evaluating clinical outcomes regarding airway, feeding, and growth during the first year of life in patients with Robin Sequence. DESIGN: Prospective study. SETTING: Sophia Children's Hospital, Rotterdam, the Netherlands. PATIENTS/ PARTICIPANTS: 36 patients with Robin Sequence who were treated between 2011 and 2021. INTERVENTIONS: Positional therapy and respiratory support. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Data on respiratory outcomes included polysomnography characteristics and capillary blood gas values. Feeding outcomes were based on the requirement of additional tube feeding. Outcomes on growth were expressed as standard-deviation-scores (SDS) for weight-for-age (WFA) and height-for-age (HFA). RESULTS: Twenty patients were treated with positional therapy (PT), whilst the other 16 patients required respiratory support. Twenty-two patients presented with non-isolated Robin Sequence (RS). During the first year of life, obstructive apnea hypopnea index decreased, oxygen levels enhanced, and capillary blood gas values improved. Eighty-six percent (31/36) experienced feeding difficulties, which completely resolved in 71% (22/31) during their first year of life. From start treatment, to stop treatment, to the age of 1 year, the SDS WFA worsened from -0.40 to -0.33 to -1.03, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Non-surgical respiratory treatment resulted in an improvement of respiratory outcomes to near normal during the first year of life in patients with RS. These patients often experience feeding difficulties and endure impaired weight gain up to 1 year of age, despite near normalization of breathing. The high prevalence of feeding difficulties and impaired weight for age indicate the urgency for early recognition and adequate treatment to support optimal growth.

Research priorities in pediatric parenteral nutrition: a consensus and perspective from ESPGHAN/ESPEN/ESPR/CSPEN.

Parenteral nutrition is used to treat children that cannot be fully fed by the enteral route. While the revised ESPGHAN/ESPEN/ESPR/CSPEN pediatric parenteral nutrition guidelines provide clear guidance on the use of parenteral nutrition in neonates, infants, and children based on current available evidence, they have helped to crystallize areas where research is lacking or more studies are needed in order to refine recommendations. This paper collates and discusses the research gaps identified by the authors of each section of the guidelines and considers each nutrient or group of nutrients in turn, together with aspects around delivery and organization. The 99 research priorities identified were then ranked in order of importance by clinicians and researchers working in the field using a survey methodology. The highest ranked priority was the need to understand the relationship between total energy intake, rapid catch-up growth, later metabolic function, and neurocognitive outcomes. Research into the optimal intakes of macronutrients needed in order to achieve optimal outcomes also featured prominently. Identifying research priorities in PN should enable research to be focussed on addressing key issues. Multicentre trials, better definition of exposure and outcome variables, and long-term metabolic and developmental follow-up will be key to achieving this. IMPACT: The recent ESPGHAN/ESPEN/ESPR/CSPEN guidelines for pediatric parenteral nutrition provided updated guidance for providing parenteral nutrition to infants and children, including recommendations for practice. However, in several areas there was a lack of evidence to guide practice, or research questions that remained unanswered. This paper summarizes the key priorities for research in pediatric parenteral nutrition, and ranks them in order of importance according to expert opinion.

Impact of critical illness and withholding of early parenteral nutrition in the pediatric intensive care unit on long-term physical performance of children: a 4-year follow-up of the PEPaNIC randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Many critically ill children face long-term developmental impairments. The PEPaNIC trial attributed part of the problems at the level of neurocognitive and emotional/behavioral development to early use of parenteral nutrition (early-PN) in the PICU, as compared with withholding it for 1 week (late-PN). Insight in long-term daily life physical functional capacity after critical illness is limited. Also, whether timing of initiating PN affects long-term physical function of these children remained unknown. METHODS: This preplanned follow-up study of the multicenter PEPaNIC randomized controlled trial subjected 521 former critically ill children (253 early-PN, 268 late-PN) to quantitative physical function tests 4 years after PICU admission in Leuven or Rotterdam, in comparison with 346 age- and sex-matched healthy children. Tests included handgrip strength measurement, timed up-and-go test, 6-min walk test, and evaluation of everyday overall physical activity with an accelerometer. We compared these functional measures for the former critically ill and healthy children and for former critically ill children randomized to late-PN versus early-PN, with multivariable linear or logistic regression analyses adjusting for risk factors. RESULTS: As compared with healthy children, former critically ill children showed less handgrip strength (p < 0.0001), completed the timed up-and-go test more slowly (p < 0.0001), walked a shorter distance in 6 min (p < 0.0001) during which they experienced a larger drop in peripheral oxygen saturation (p ≤ 0.026), showed a lower energy expenditure (p ≤ 0.024), performed more light and less moderate physical activity (p ≤ 0.047), and walked fewer steps per day (p = 0.0074). Late-PN as compared with early-PN did not significantly affect these outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Four years after PICU admission, former critically ill children showed worse physical performance as compared with healthy children, without impact of timing of supplemental PN in the PICU. This study provides further support for de-implementing the early use of PN in the PICU. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT01536275 ; registered on February 22, 2012.

A Practical Approach to Identifying Pediatric Disease-Associated Undernutrition: A Position Statement from the ESPGHAN Special Interest Group on Clinical Malnutrition.

ABSTRACT: Disease-associated undernutrition (DAU) is still common in hospitalized children and is generally accepted to be associated with adverse effects on disease outcomes; hence making proper identification and assessment essential in the management of the sick child. There are however several barriers to routine screening, assessment, and treatment of sick children with poor nutritional status or DAU, including limited resources, lack of nutritional awareness, and lack of agreed nutrition policies. We recommend all pediatric facilities to 1) implement procedures for identification of children with (risk of) DAU, including nutritional screening, criteria for further assessment to establish diagnosis of DAU, and follow-up, 2) assess weight and height in all children asa minimum, and 3) have the opportunity for children at risk to be assessed by a hospital dietitian. An updated descriptive definition of pediatric DAU is proposed as "Undernutrition is a condition resulting from imbalanced nutrition or abnormal utilization of nutrients which causes clinically meaningful adverse effects on tissue function and/or body size/composition with subsequent impact on health outcomes." To facilitate comparison of undernutrition data, it is advised that in addition to commonly used criteria for undernutrition such as z score < -2 for weight-for-age, weight-for-length, or body mass index <-2, an unintentional decline of >1inthese z scores over time should be considered as an indicator requiring further assessment to establish DAU diagnosis. Since the etiology of DAU is multifactorial, clinical evaluation and anthropometry should ideally be complemented by measurements of body composition, assessment of nutritional intake, requirements, and losses, and considering disease specific factors.

Neurocognitive functioning and health-related quality of life of children after pediatric intensive care admission: a systematic review.

OBJECTIVE: This study systematically reviewed recent findings on neurocognitive functioning and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of children after pediatric intensive care unit admission (PICU). DATA SOURCES: Electronic databases searched included Embase, Medline Ovid, Web of Science, Cochrane CENTRAL, and Google Scholar. The search was limited to studies published in the last five years (2015-2019). STUDY SELECTION: Original studies assessing neurocognitive functioning or HRQoL in children who were previously admitted to the PICU were included in this systematic review. DATA EXTRACTION: Of the 3649 identified studies, 299 met the inclusion criteria based on title abstract screening. After full-text screening, 75 articles were included in the qualitative data reviewing: 38 on neurocognitive functioning, 33 on HRQoL, and 4 on both outcomes. DATA SYNTHESIS: Studies examining neurocognitive functioning found overall worse scores for general intellectual functioning, attention, processing speed, memory, and executive functioning. Studies investigating HRQoL found overall worse scores for both physical and psychosocial HRQoL. On the short term (≤ 12 months), most studies reported HRQoL impairments, whereas in some long-term studies HRQoL normalized. The effectiveness of the few intervention studies during and after PICU admission on long-term outcomes varied. CONCLUSIONS: PICU survivors have lower scores for neurocognitive functioning and HRQoL than children from the general population. A structured follow-up program after a PICU admission is needed to identify those children and parents who are at risk. However, more research is needed into testing interventions in randomized controlled trials aiming on preventing or improving impairments in critically ill children during and after PICU admission.

Association of monocyte HLA-DR expression over time with secondary infection in critically ill children: a prospective observational study.

An impaired immune response could play a role in the acquisition of secondary infections in critically ill children. Human leukocyte antigen-DR expression on monocytes (mHLA-DR) has been proposed as marker to detect immunosuppression, but its potential to predict secondary infections in critically ill children is unclear. We aimed to assess the association between mHLA-DR expression at several timepoints and the change of mHLA-DR expression over time with the acquisition of secondary infections in critically ill children. In this prospective observational study, children < 18 years with fever and/or suspected infection (community-acquired or hospital-acquired) were included at a paediatric intensive care unit in the Netherlands. mHLA-DR expression was determined by flow cytometry on day 1, day 2-3 and day 4-7. The association between delta-mHLA-DR expression (difference between last and first measurement) and secondary infection was assessed by multivariable regression analysis, adjusted for age and Paediatric Logistic Organ Dysfunction-2 score. We included 104 patients at the PICU (median age 1.2 years [IQR 0.3-4.2]), of whom 28 patients (27%) developed a secondary infection. Compared to 93 healthy controls, mHLA-DR expression of critically ill children was significantly lower at all timepoints. mHLA-DR expression did not differ at any of the time points between patients with and without secondary infection. In addition, delta-mHLA-DR expression was not associated with secondary infection (aOR 1.00 [95% CI 0.96-1.04]).Conclusions: Our results confirm that infectious critically ill children have significantly lower mHLA-DR expression than controls. mHLA-DR expression was not associated with the acquisition of secondary infections. What is Known: • An impaired immune response, estimated by mHLA-DR expression, could play an essential role in the acquisition of secondary infections in critically ill children. • In critically ill children, large studies on the association of mHLA-DR expression with secondary infections are scarce. What is New: • Our study confirms that critically ill children have lower mHLA-DR expression than healthy controls. • mHLA-DR expression and change in mHLA-DR was not associated with the acquisition of secondary infection.

Physical, Emotional/Behavioral, and Neurocognitive Developmental Outcomes From 2 to 4 Years After PICU Admission: A Secondary Analysis of the Early Versus Late Parenteral Nutrition Randomized Controlled Trial Cohort.

OBJECTIVES: PICU patients face long-term developmental impairments, partially attributable to early parenteral nutrition (PN) versus late-PN. We investigated how this legacy and harm by early-PN evolve over time. DESIGN: Preplanned secondary analysis of the multicenter PEPaNIC-RCT (ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT01536275) that enrolled 1,440 critically ill children from 2012 to 2015 and its 2- (2014-2018) and 4-year (2016-2019) cross-sectional follow-up studies. SETTING: PICUs of Leuven (Belgium), Rotterdam (The Netherlands), and Edmonton (Canada). PATIENTS: Patients and demographically matched healthy control children that underwent longitudinal assessment for physical/emotional/behavioral/neurocognitive functions at both follow-up time points. INTERVENTIONS: In the PEPaNIC-RCT, patients were randomly allocated to early-PN versus late-PN. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: This within-individual longitudinal study investigated changes in physical/emotional/behavioral/neurocognitive functions from 2 to 4 years after PICU admission for 614 patients (297 early-PN and 317 late-PN, tested at mean ± sd age 5.4 ± 4.2 and 7.3 ± 4.3 yr) and for 357 demographically matched healthy children tested at age 5.6 ± 4.3 and 7.5 ± 4.3 years. We determined within-group time-courses, interaction between time and group, and independent impact of critical illness and early-PN on these time-courses. Most deficits in patients versus healthy children remained prominent over the 2 years ( p ≤ 0.01). Deficits further aggravated for height, body mass index, the executive function metacognition, intelligence, motor coordination (alternating/synchronous tapping), and memory learning-index, whereas verbal memory deficits became smaller (working/immediate/delayed memory) ( p ≤ 0.05). Adjustment for risk factors confirmed most findings and revealed that patients "grew-into-deficit" for additional executive functions (flexibility/emotional control/total executive functioning) and "grew-out-of-deficit" for additional memory functions (recognition/pictures) ( p ≤ 0.05). Time-courses were largely unaffected by early-PN versus late-PN, except for weight loss and limited catch-up for visual-motor integration and alertness in early-PN patients ( p ≤ 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: From 2- to 4-year post-PICU admission, developmental impairments remained prominent. Within that time-window, impaired growth in height, executive functioning and intelligence aggravated, and impaired memory and harm by early-PN only partially recovered. Impact on development into adulthood requires further investigation.

Perceived stress, family impact, and changes in physical and social daily life activities of children with chronic somatic conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has inevitably affected children and their families. This study examines the impact of the COVID-19 measures in children with chronic somatic conditions (CSC) and their parents and compares them with a Dutch general population sample. METHODS: We included a sample of children with CSC (0-18 years, n = 326) and compared them with children (8-18 years, n = 1,287) from the Dutch general population. Perceived stress, coping, social interaction with friends and family, physical activity, eating behavior, family support, parenting perception, and financial situation were assessed once with the self-reported and parent-reported COVID-19 child check questionnaire, between November 2020 and May 2021. Comparisons between the two samples were made by using t-tests and chi square tests. RESULTS: The proportion of children who reported being less physically active and having less social interaction with friends since the COVID-19 pandemic was higher in children with CSC than in children from the general population. Children with CSC and their parents experienced less stress than children and parents from the general population. Moreover, parents of children with CSC aged 0-7 years and parents of children aged 8-18 years from the general population experienced less support and more financial deterioration than parents of children with CSC aged 8-18 years. In the parents from the general population only, this deteriorated financial situation was associated with more stress, worse family interaction and parenting perception, and less received support. CONCLUSIONS: The impact of COVID-19 on children with CSC and their parents differed from those in the general population. Addressing the collateral damage of COVID-19 measures in children and their families may give direction to policy and potentially prevent lifelong impact.