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2. Growth patterns of children with special
health care needs
2.3 Risk of under-
or overweight among children with special needs
Overweight
Conditions
which predispose to overweight frequently occur in the child with trisomy 21 , Prader-Willi syndrome, and spina bifida. Reasons for an overweight condition in these children include
hypotonia,
lower metabolic rates, lack of ambulation and exercise, and excessive
food intake relative to expenditure of energy (Cloud,
1997; Ekvall, 1993).
Underweight
Underweight
is a common occurrence among children with feeding problems, whether the
problems are physical or emotional/behavioral. For example, underweight
may result from a situation where the child has high energy needs that
are difficult to meet because of other physiologic reasons such as bronchopulmonary
dysplasia or cardiac problems (Cloud, 1997;
Anderson, 1999). (For more information
about underweight, see the module about
Identifying Poor Growth in Infants and Toddlers.)
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