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Background and Objective: Malnutrition can potentially prone a disabled child to further morbidities thus imposing further suffering to the affected child and his/her family. Present study investigates prevalence of malnutrition among physically disabled children based on anthropometry data. Materials and Methods: A total of 290 physically disabled children aged 6- 12 yeas old, of both sexes, and from all specialized schools in Tehran, Meshed and Rasht were enrolled in a descriptive cross- sectional study. Weight and height were assessed and body mass index (BMI) was calculated for all subjects. In those disabled children whose heights could not be measured directly, height was estimated using Arm Lengh (AL) and Tibia Length (TL). Percent of low weight, thinness and short stature was determined in both disabled and healthy children using CDC standards and Z- score. Results: Z score of weight showed that over 40% of disabled girls and boys were underweight. Comparison with anthropometric data from other studies showed that low weight was more prevalent in disabled than in non- disabled children (p<0.001). Moreover, both disabled boys and girls had significantly shorter statures than their non disabled counterparts. Conclusions: Malnutrition (low weight and stunting) is quite prevalent among Iranian children with motor disabilities. Further prevention programs are necessary to induct. Keywords: Malnutrition, Physically disabled children, Anthropometry data

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Background and Objective: Malnutrition can potentially prone a disabled child to further morbidities thus imposing further suffering to the affected child and his/her family. The aim of this is determination of dietary intake among physically disabled children. Materials and Methods: 163 physically disabled children aged 6-12 yeas old, of both sexes, and from Tehran were enrolled in a descriptive cross-sectional study. Dietary assessment was performed for disabled children using 24hr and food-frequency questionnaires (92 food item). Results: Calcium and iron intake in disabled children were 76% and 56% of RDA, respectively. In the physically disabled children, the intake of protein, calcium and riboflavin in girls was significantly lower than the boys (p<0.05) while the energy intake did not show any significant difference between two groups. In disabled children, while the mean energy intake was more than 90% of the amount required, mean calcium and iron intakes were 75.8% and 58.7% of the corresponding required amounts. Despite absence of significant difference in energy and fat intake, the intakes of protein, calcium and riboflavin were significantly lower in girls than in boys (p<0.05). Conclusions: Prevalence deficiency of energy and some nutrient intake among disabled children are high. It seems that poor food composition is a more important contributing factor than total low calorie intake. Nutritional education of the disabled children’s care givers and notably mothers to improve child’s food quality and feeding techniques is therefore needed. Keywords: Dietary intake, Physically disabled children

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Background and Objective: Height measurement is an important part of nutritional assessment especially in children. However, in such cases as hospitalized or certain kinds of malformations or disabilities, height cannot be measured accurately. We aimed to determine appropriate height predictors in Iranian healthy children for further use in disabled and/or hospitalized children. Materials and Methods: A total of 730 apparently healthy children aged 7-11 years old from both sexes from Tehran, Meshed and Rasht were enrolled in a cross sectional study. Height, Demi Span (DS), Half Span (HS), arm length (AL) and tibia length (TL) were all measured using a measuring tape. Results: Linear regression models were established between height, DS, HS, AL and TL. For boys AL (R2=0.783) and TL (R2=0.837) and for girls AL (R2=0.720), TL (R2=0.765), HS (R2=0.771) and age (R2=0.775), respectively, entered the linear regression model. When height predictors were evaluated individually for each city, only in Tehran DS also entered the regression model. Conclusion: Concordance of different percentiles of height estimates based on AL with those of actual height proposed this measure as a reliable height proxy for this age group in clinical as well as field practice. Keywords: Actual height, Body size, Healthy children