There is controversy about the risks and benefits of consuming fish. Fish consumption provides nutrients, some of which are essential for brain growth and development. All fish, however, contain methyl mercury (MeHg), a known neurotoxicant. The toxic effect of MeHg seems most damaging during brain development, and thus, prenatal exposure is of greatest concern. At […]
Abstract Topics: Nutrition
Obesity and secondary conditions in adolescents with disabilities: addressing the needs of an underserved population.
Children and adolescents with physical and cognitive disabilities have a higher prevalence of overweight compared to their non-disabled peers. This health risk can lead to a greater number of obesity-related secondary conditions (e.g., fatigue, pain, deconditioning, social isolation, difficulty performing activities of daily living) and can impose significant personal and economic hardship on the child […]
Changing from oral to enteral feeding: impact on families of children with disabilities.
The number of children in the U.K. who are being fed enterally at home is increasing. Feeding by nasogastric or gastrostomy tube may not seem particularly abnormal to nurses who care for sick children. However, the initiation of tube feeding can have a significant impact on both the child and the family. Research related to […]
Safety of vitamin D3 in adults with multiple sclerosis.
BACKGROUND: Vitamin D3 may have therapeutic potential in several diseases, including multiple sclerosis. High doses of vitamin D(3) may be required for therapeutic efficacy, and yet tolerability–in the present context, defined as the serum concentration of 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] that does not cause hypercalcemia–remains poorly characterized. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to characterize […]
Is susceptibility to prenatal methylmercury exposure from fish consumption non- homogeneous? Tree-structured analysis for the Seychelles Child Development Study.
Studies of the association between prenatal methylmercury exposure from maternal fish consumption during pregnancy and neurodevelopmental test scores in the Seychelles Child Development Study have found no consistent pattern of associations through age 9 years. The analyses for the most recent 9-year data examined the population effects of prenatal exposure, but did not address the […]
Cutoff scores, norms and patterns of feeding problems for the Screening Tool of Feeding Problems (STEP) for adults with intellectual disabilities.
Independent living is a goal for everyone, but often persons with intellectual disabilities (ID) have major challenges in this respect. In fact, deficits in daily living skills are a hallmark of the condition. One of the most serious and potentially problematic of the independent living skills is difficulties or irregularities in eating. These problems can […]
Growth and nutritional status in residential center versus home-living children and adolescents with quadriplegic cerebral palsy.
OBJECTIVE: To describe growth and nutrition in nonambulatory youth (<19 years of age) with cerebral palsy (CP) living in residential centers compared with similar youth living at home. STUDY DESIGN: A multicenter, cross-sectional, single observational assessment of 75 subjects living in a residential care facility compared with 205 subjects living at home. Primary outcome measures […]
Obesity after spinal cord injury.
America is in the midst of an obesity epidemic, and individuals who have spinal cord injury (SCI) are perhaps at greater risk than any other segment of the population. Recent changes in the way obesity has been defined have lulled SCI practitioners into a false sense of security about the health of their patients regarding […]
Metabolic syndrome in adolescents with spinal cord dysfunction.
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of components of the metabolic syndrome in adolescents with spinal cord injury (SCI) and spina bifida (SB), and their associations with obesity in subjects with and without SCI and SB. METHODS: Fifty-four subjects (20 SCI and 34 SB) age 11 to 20 years with […]
Impact of spinal cord dysfunction and obesity on the health-related quality of life of children and adolescents.
OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were: (1) to compare the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of children and adolescents with mobility impairments due to spinal cord injury (SCI) and spina bifida (SB) to the HRQOL of children and adolescent controls without mobility impairments (CTRL); and (2) to examine the impact of of obesity on […]