Total energy expenditure and body composition of children with developmental disabilities.
Michele Polfuss, Kathleen J Sawin, Paula E Papanek and 5 others
PMID 29329773WHAT IT FOUND
Children with Down syndrome and children with spina bifida who used wheelchairs had lower daily energy expenditure than controls.
When matched for fat-free mass, their recommended daily calorie need was 500-800 calories lower.
Key findings
01Thirty-six children aged 4-18 were studied, and 33 children had usable total energy expenditure data after quality control issues with three doubly labeled water samples.
02The average daily energy expenditure values were 1314 for children with spina bifida who used wheelchairs, 1813 for children with Down syndrome, 1836 for children with spina bifida who walked independently, and 2646 for controls; the wheelchair spina bifida and Down syndrome groups were lower than controls.
03When matched for fat-free mass, the recommended daily calorie need was 500-800 calories lower for the Down syndrome and spina bifida wheelchair groups than for controls.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
This was a pilot study with 36 children, and the energy expenditure analysis used only 33 children after quality control issues with three doubly labeled water samples. The children were not compared by age groups, and the researchers did not control for puberty, gender, or age because the sample was small. The study was cross-sectional, so it cannot show that Down syndrome or wheelchair use caused lower energy expenditure. The 500-800 calorie figure came from a mathematical matching of energy expenditure and fat-free mass, not from a tested diet plan. The authors said the sample was too small to draw absolute conclusions.
Declared interests
The study was conducted within an NIH-funded Clinical and Translational Science Institute, and all authors reported no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not treat the 500-800 calorie lower need as a confirmed prescription for every child with Down syndrome or spina bifida who uses a wheelchair. This was a small pilot, and the calorie figure was based on matching for fat-free mass, not on a tested feeding plan.