The impact of anemia and body mass index (BMI) on neuromotor development of preschool children

Summary Objective: According to data from the World Health Organization (WHO), anemia is a prevalent health problem that leads to increased morbidity and mortality, especially in preschool children. Anemia is recognized as a major health problem due to its negative effects on the mental and physical development during childhood. The aim of our study was to determine the levels of anemia of children in a kindergarten affiliated to the Directorate of National Education using a non-invasive method, and to investigate the effects of anemia on the physical, mental and neuromotor development of children. Method: The levels of anemia was evaluated by using a non-invasive measurement device. Data collection was performed by means of a questionnaire to evaluate the children's physical development and set Denver Developmental Screening Test II scores. Results: Our findings show that 21% of non-anemic and 15% of anemic children are in the suspected abnormal group according to their DDST II total score. Furthermore, it has been identified that mild anemia has a positive effect on neuromotor development, while overweight and obesity affect neuromotor development in a negative way. Conclusion: According to the results obtained from the study, mild anemia may have a positive effect on the children's neuromotor development, while malnutrition could have a negative impact.

Correlation of Periventricular Leukomalacia on the Brain MRI and the Denver II and Capute Developmental Test

OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to evaluate the correlation of periventricular leukomalacia (PVL) on brain MRI and Denver II and Capute developmental test. METHOD: Thirty children with PVL on brain MRI showing delayed development were included. The severity of PVL was graded as localized/generalized lesion in three fields; periventricular hyperintensity in T2 weighted image (PVHI in T2WI), reduced volume of cerebral white matter (RV of CWM), ventriculomegaly with periventricular wall irregula rity (VM with PVWI). Development quotients were obtained by Denver II and Capute test, and assessed according to the severity of PVL. RESULTS: Although language, fine motor-adaptive, personal- social scale of Denver II and cognitive-adaptive and clinical linguistic and auditory milestone of Capute test had little correlation with severity of PVL, gross motor developmental scale assessed by Denver II had a certain degree of correlation with severity of PVL which was not significant statistically. The gross motor developmental scale of the nineteen preterm births had a significant correlation with VM with PVWI, but the other developmental scales still had no significant correlation with PVL. CONCLUSION: As for the children with delayed development the degree of motor development was a significant predictor of the PVL on brain MRI, but those of language and cognitive development were not.

Comparison of the Findings of DDST (II), Brain SPECT and Brain MRI in Cerebral Palsy Children

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinical values of the DDST II (Denver Developmental Screening Test, 2nd revision), 99mTc HMPAO brain single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) findings and brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the assessment of cerebral palsy children. METHOD: Twenty-two children with cerebral palsy were investigated. Four profiles of DDST (II) were summated to a monthly age according to each developmental status. 99mTc HMPAO brain SPECT imagings were analyzed for the calculation of the perfusion defect indices. The clinical severities were scored as mild to severe, and were compared to a motor age of Maryland criteria. The presence of abnormal findings of brain MRI was also checked. RESULTS: (1) The gross and fine motor profiles of DDST (II) were significantly different between normal and abnormal findings of the brain SPECT in cerebral palsy children. (2) The region of interests ROIs in brain SPECT correlated with many profiles of DDST (II), 1) prefrontal area of the brain SPECT and language profile of DDST (II), 2) premotor area and gross motor/language profile, 3) thalamic area and social-personal profile, 4) basal ganglia area and gross motor/language proflie. respectively. (3) There was no relationship between each profile of DDST (II) and brain MRI findings. CONCLUSION: The DDST (II) and Brain SPECT seemes to be more useful than the brain MRI for the functional assessment of cerebral palsy children.