Assessment of nutritional status, nutrition related knowledge level and its associated factors among learning disabilities children in special education integration programme (SEIP) in Kota Bharu, Kelantan

Malnutrition has been found to be a common setback among children with learning disability (LD). However, the nutritional status and nutrition related knowledge level among the local LD population are obscure. This study was conducted from April 2016 to June 2017 with the aim to assess the nutrition status, nutrition related knowledge level and its associated factors of LD children studying at Special Education Integration Program (SEIP) in Kota Bharu, Kelantan. Validation and reliability testing was done on the pictorial flipchart questionnaire beforehand. The study involving 99 LD children (37.4% girls and 62.6% boys) at four selected SEIP in Kota Bharu area. Mean (SD) age of study participants were 10.87 (1.55) years. Data on anthropometry, dietary, socio-demography, nutrition related knowledge level and also factors associated were collected using a set of structured questionnaire. The validated nutrition related knowledge questionnaire contained 10 items shows a good reliability with Cronbach Alpha value of 0.60. Most participants are able to identify unhealthy food and minority of them knows which foods are high in calcium. According to the body mass index (BMI) classification, results indicates that the prevalence of 10.1% of LD children (70% boys and 30% girls) who were underweight while 37.3% (62.2% boys and 37.8% girls) were overweight or obese. The mean (SD) score of nutrition related knowledge questionnaire of LD children are 6.07 (2.16). Multiple regression analysis shows that number of siblings (p=0.006), body fat percentage (p<0.001) and feeding problems (p=0.038) were significantly associated with malnutrition among this population. In conclusion, high prevalence of malnutrition are found in this population thus more effective strategies with new interventions programs including improving the nutrition education syllabus at schools to prevent malnutrition from becoming a worldwide problem particularly among children with LD as they face the risk of being left behind

Assessment of nutritional status, nutrition related knowledge level and its associated factors among learning disabilities children in special education integration programme (SEIP) in Kota Bharu, Kelantan

Malnutrition has been found to be a common setback among children with learning disability (LD). However, the nutritional status and nutrition related knowledge level among the local LD population are obscure. This study was conducted from April 2016 to June 2017 with the aim to assess the nutrition status, nutrition related knowledge level and its associated factors of LD children studying at Special Education Integration Program (SEIP) in Kota Bharu, Kelantan. Validation and reliability testing was done on the pictorial flipchart questionnaire beforehand. The study involving 99 LD children (37.4% girls and 62.6% boys) at four selected SEIP in Kota Bharu area. Mean (SD) age of study participants were 10.87 (1.55) years. Data on anthropometry, dietary, socio-demography, nutrition related knowledge level and also factors associated were collected using a set of structured questionnaire. The validated nutrition related knowledge questionnaire contained 10 items shows a good reliability with Cronbach Alpha value of 0.60. Most participants are able to identify unhealthy food and minority of them knows which foods are high in calcium. According to the body mass index (BMI) classification, results indicates that the prevalence of 10.1% of LD children (70% boys and 30% girls) who were underweight while 37.3% (62.2% boys and 37.8% girls) were overweight or obese. The mean (SD) score of nutrition related knowledge questionnaire of LD children are 6.07 (2.16). Multiple regression analysis shows that number of siblings (p=0.006), body fat percentage (p<0.001) and feeding problems (p=0.038) were significantly associated with malnutrition among this population. In conclusion, high prevalence of malnutrition are found in this population thus more effective strategies with new interventions programs including improving the nutrition education syllabus at schools to prevent malnutrition from becoming a worldwide problem particularly among children with LD as they face the risk of being left behind

Prevalence and Risk Factors Associated with Malnutrition among Children with Learning Disabilities: A Scoping Review

Introduction: By the end of 2015, about 72,152 children with learning disabilities were registered under the Malaysian Welfare Service Department (JKM). Malnutrition has been found to be a common setback among children with learning disability (LD). This study presents available evidence on the prevalence and risk factors associated with malnutrition in children with LD. Methods: A framework suggested by Arksey & O`Male (2005) was used to carry out this scoping review. Published articles, reviews and reports were identified through a complete search. Inclusion criteria for the search were English articles related to LD, published from 2005 to 2016. Results: Seventeen international studies published from 2005 until 2015 with a total of 318,596 participants and one study involving 281 participants from Malaysia, were identified and included in this review (n=18). The target age range of the sample in these 18 studies was 2 - 20 years, with a mean age of 3.2 - 14.2 years. The prevalence of underweight among children with LD was 3.4 - 36%, overweight 7.6 - 37% and obesity 5.7 - 52%. Several studies reveal that malnutrition risk among children with LD is significantly associated with gender, age, genetic syndrome, type of disability, medication used, and country economic status. Conclusion: A number of studies show that children with LD have a higher prevalence of being overweight and obese than typically developing children and the risk associated with obesity significantly increases with age