Anthropometric Profile and Nutritional Status in Children with Generalized Epilepsy

ABSTRACT

Background: Epilepsy is widespread in developing countriescompared to that in developed countries. The reason ofepilepsy in most cases is unknown. Considering the factthat the nutritional status of children in developing countriesis generally poor, our objective was to determine possiblerelationship between nutritional status and epilepsy.Material and methods: Towards this, we gather a datasetof 34 Cases from the Department of Pediatric and as manyControls from the local populace. The age group (5-8.5 years),sex, and gender data is also augmented with educationaland socioeconomic history along with the results of clinicalexaminations, such as, weight, height and body mass index.Results: Our statistical results unveil insignificantdifference in socioeconomic status and educational levels inbetween the parents of Cases and Controls. Additionally, asignificantly higher value of anthropometric measurementsin Controls is observed compared to that of the Casesi.e.Height (117.38±6.05 vs. 112.21±6.82 cm; p value 0.002),Weight (21.29±2.83 vs. 18.14±2.94 kg; p value <0.001) andBody mass index(15.39±1.03 vs.14.33±1.26 kg/m2; p value<0.001).Conclusion: Our results show that generalized epilepsymay have effect on growth and development of children,reflecting that nutritional programs are required to improvethe nutritional status in children with generalized epilepsy soas to optimize their growth and development.