Body mass index and fitness in high-functioning children and adolescents with cerebral palsy: What happened over a decade?

Abstract

Background In recent decades, improving fitness has become an important goal in rehabilitation medicine in children and adolescents with cerebral palsy (CP). Aims To compare body mass index (BMI), performance-related fitness, and cardiorespiratory fitness of children with CP measured in 2014 with a comparable sample from 2004. Methods and procedures In total, 25 high-functioning children with CP (i.e., GMFCS I–II) measured in 2004 (13 boys; mean age 13.2 (2.6) years) were matched to 25 children measured in 2014. Outcomes included body mass and BMI, muscle power sprint test (MPST), 10 × 5 m sprint test, and a shuttle run test (SRT). Data of 15 participants from 2004 (10 boys; mean age 12.6 (2.5) years) were matched and analysed for VO 2peak. Outcomes and results Body mass and BMI were higher (both: p < 0.05) in the 2014 cohort compared to the 2004 cohort. Further, performance-related fitness was better for the 2014 cohort on the MPST (p = 0.004), the 10 × 5 m sprint test (p = 0.001), and the SRT (p < 0.001). However, there were no differences for VO 2peak. Conclusions and implications In high-funcitoning children with CP, there are positive ecological time trends in performance-related fitness, but not in VO 2peak between 2004 and 2014. The substantial higher body mass and BMI is alarming and requires further investigation.