RESUMO
To determine the dietary practices of Saudi cerebral palsy [CP] children. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect the following information from parents of CP children: demographics, main source of dietary information, frequency of main meals, foods/drinks used for main meals and in-between-meals. Parents of 157 CP children participated. Parents were divided into three, while children were divided into two age groups. The main sources of dietary information included popular media [46.5%] and dentist [36.3%]. Most of the children had three meals [71.3%] or two meals [24.8%] daily. Choices for main meals included meats [68.8%], vegetables [65.6%], fruits [28.4%] and puddings [38.9%]. The main three drinks choices with main meals included packed juices [59.9%], bottled water [58.8%] and fresh fruit juices [33.1%]. The choices for in-between meals snacks included biscuits [61.1%], potato chips [51.6%], fruits [43.9%] and chocolates [41.4%]. The choice of drinks with snacks was similar to that used with main meals. In cross-tabulation, older parents used meat [p=.03] and soft drinks [p=.04] more often for their children's main meals. Older children were given meat [p=.004] and soft drinks [p=.04] more often with main meals. Older children were given potato chips as snacks more often than younger children [p=.02], and there was a trend towards use of chocolates as snacks in older children [p=.08]. Parents of CP children need to be educated about dietary practices of their children especially in areas such as the use of packed juices, dairy products, soft drinks and chocolates
RESUMO
The objective of this study was to evaluate and describe the plaque and gingival health status in cerebral palsy [CP] children of Riyadh city. One hundred and forty non-institutionalized CP children [82 males and 58 females] were examined in the dental clinic of the Disabled Children Association Center, Riyadh, for presence of plaque and gingival inflammation. Children were divided into three age groups; the first [3-6 years] consisted of 41 children, second [7-9 years] consisted of 52 children and third [10-12 years] had 47 children. The highest mean plaque index [PI] was recorded for the first group. There was no significant [p>0.05] difference between the three groups examined. The highest mean gingival index [GI] was recorded for the third group which differed significantly from the first [p=0.000] and second [p= 0.001] groups. GI scores were found to be related to the oral hygiene [OH] status of the CP children examined, as the children with poor OH got the highest mean GI followed by children with fair and good OH. Neither PI nor GI scores were affected by the gender of the examined CP children. The CP children examined in this study had mild to moderate plaque accumulation and the gingival inflammation increased as the age of the children increase. Gender had no significant effect on the PI or GI scores obtained, and the GI scores were found to be related to the OH status