Hashim, Nur Hamiza Ruzaini and Harith, Sakinah and Bakar, Raishan Shafini and Sahran, Nur-Fazimah
(2017)
Prevalence and Risk Factors Associated with Malnutrition
among Children with Learning Disabilities: A Scoping Review.
Mal J Nutr, 23 (1).
pp. 65-80.
Abstract
Introduction: By the end of 2015, about 72,152 children with learning disabilities were
registered under the Malaysian Welfare Service Department (JKM). Malnutrition has been
found to be a common setback among children with learning disability (LD). This study
presents available evidence on the prevalence and risk factors associated with malnutrition
in children with LD. Methods: A framework suggested by Arksey & O`Male (2005) was
used to carry out this scoping review. Published articles, reviews and reports were identified
through a complete search. Inclusion criteria for the search were English articles related to
LD, published from 2005 to 2016. Results: Seventeen international studies published from
2005 until 2015 with a total of 318,596 participants and one study involving 281 participants
from Malaysia, were identified and included in this review (n=18). The target age range
of the sample in these 18 studies was 2 - 20 years, with a mean age of 3.2 - 14.2 years.
The prevalence of underweight among children with LD was 3.4 - 36%, overweight 7.6 -
37% and obesity 5.7 - 52%. Several studies reveal that malnutrition risk among children
with LD is significantly associated with gender, age, genetic syndrome, type of disability,
medication used, and country economic status. Conclusion: A number of studies show that
children with LD have a higher prevalence of being overweight and obese than typically
developing children and the risk associated with obesity significantly increases with age.
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