Introduction:

Cerebral palsy (CP) is the most common physical disability in children. It has been described that children with CP have some degree of malnutrition; however, the information is limited.

Objective:

To determine the prevalence of undernutrition in children with CP attending Rehabilitation Center and Children Inclusion Telethon (CRIT), Sonora, in the period from 2016 to 2017, and its association with gross motor function.

Material and methods:

This is a cross-sectional study. With authorization of the ethics committee, a non-probabilistic sample of 180 patients with CP was analyzed, to whom, prior informed consent, anthropometry was performed and information was obtained from the clinical file. With a specific curve for the population with PC and the Waterlow criteria, a nutritional diagnosis was established in each patient. Subsequently, the sample was grouped into two, one of subjects with limited mobility (GMFCS level I-III) and another of subjects with severely limited mobility (GMFCS level IV-V). Statistical analysis was performed with Chi-square.

Results:

The prevalence of undernutrition was 57.2% (n = 103). While the percentage of undernutrition in children with severely limited mobility was 65.2% compared to 44.1% in the group with little mobility limited (p < 0.05).

Conclusions:

Undernutrition in children with CP is common and is higher in those with more limited motor function.