Gopinath, V.K.
(2003)
Assessment of growth and maternal attitude towards feeding practices in children with cleft lip and palate.
Assessment of growth and maternal attitude towards feeding practices in children with cleft lip and palate.
(Submitted)
Abstract
Cleft lip and palate (CLP) are one of the commonest congenital
abnormalities, which occur in early pregnancy. Congenital cleft results in a
gap involving the lip, the upper maxilla and the palate, either independently
or in combination. The majority of cleft appears to be due to a combination
of genetics and environmental factor. Epidemiological studies conducted on
the incidence of cleft palate and lip in Malaysian preschool children showed
1: 1304 for cleft lip and 1:1594 for cleft palate (1), while international data
showed craniofacial anomalies occurs in approximately 1 in 500 live birth
(2).
Patients with cleft lip and palate present with a number of problems among
them feeding difficulties is commonly observed and is the most traumatic
experience the family has to face. Children especially those with a cleft
palate, have impaired sucking mechanism. More specifically, despite
adequate sucking movements, they are unable to generate the negative
pressure required for adequate sucking to occur (3,4). More air than normal
is swallowed, feeding takes longer and the child may tire before the
completion of the feed (3,5). These children are prone to nutritional
problems since the healthiest and the safest source of nutrition for infants in
breast milk. Recurrent infections, repeated operations and adverse
psychosocial influences further aggravate the problem.
These infants are undernourished and have a compromised growth in the
early months after birth ( 6, 7). The growth problems of children with
orofacial clefts have largely been attributed to inadequate nutrition (S).However, studies have shown many children with orofacial clefting have
impaired growth with no impairment of weight gain (9). Hence assessment
of growth in children with orofacial cleft is crucial because it may be
treatable in the early stages.
The purpose of this study was to 1) to assess general health and growth
parameters in children with CLP and those of normal children. 2) to
investigate the feeding methods of CLP infants and normal infants. 3) to
assess the maternal attitude towards breast - feeding
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