Developmental medicine and child neurology
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Dev Med Child Neurol · Sep 2010
Comparative StudyAnthropometric measures: poor predictors of body fat in children with moderate to severe cerebral palsy.
This purpose of our study was to assess and compare anthropometric measures of adiposity and direct measurement of percentage body fat by dual emission X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) in children with cerebral palsy (CP). We also compared our results in children with CP with results from a national sample of typically developing children from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. ⋯ Single anthropometric measures do not perform well in predicting percentage body fat in children with or without CP. Further work is needed to develop clinically useful and simple assessments that will predict percentage body fat and to determine the relation between percentage body fat and health to guide clinical practice.
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Dev Med Child Neurol · Sep 2010
Randomized Controlled TrialThe relationship between unimanual capacity and bimanual performance in children with congenital hemiplegia.
This study explores the relationship between unimanual capacity and bimanual performance for children with congenital hemiplegia aged 5 to 16 years. It also examines the relationship between impairments and unimanual capacity and bimanual performance. ⋯ Findings of our study confirm a strong relationship between unimanual capacity and bimanual performance in a cohort of children with congenital hemiplegia. However, the directionality of the relationship is unknown and therapists cannot assume improvements in unimanual capacity will lead to gains in bimanual performance.
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Dev Med Child Neurol · Sep 2010
Anticipatory postural adjustments in a bimanual load-lifting task in children with developmental coordination disorder.
Postural control is a fundamental component of action in which deficits have been shown to contribute to motor difficulties in children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD). The purpose of this study was to examine anticipatory postural adjustments (APAs) in children with DCD in a bimanual load-lifting task. ⋯ The impaired fine-tuning of the muscle contribution and the poor stabilization performances demonstrate poor predictive modelling in DCD.