Nutritional Assessment in Children with Chronic Liver Diseases

Background: Malnutrition is a frequent complication in pediatric cases with chronic liver disease (CLD), exerting detrimental effects on overall growth and especially on neurocognitive outcomes. Objective: To assess the nutritional status of pediatric cases with CLD attending Mansoura University Children’s Hospital.
Patients and methods: This case-control investigation enrolled 100 CLD pediatric cases attending the hepatology outpatient clinic at Mansoura University Children’s Hospital, along with 100 sex- and age-matched healthy children as controls. Eligible participants were 4–18 years and were stratified into three groups based on the Child-Pugh classification of disease severity. All subjects underwent detailed history taking, thorough clinical examination, anthropometric assessment, and bioelectrical impedance analysis.
Results: All anthropometric measurements were affected with statistically significant lower Z-score values for weight, height, BMI, MUAC, and triceps SFT scores among children with CLD compared to control. Children with liver disease exhibited a substantially lower mean total body fat percentage relative to controls. In addition, both trunk fat mass (kg) and fat mass (kg) were reduced in cases relative to controls.
Conclusion: Malnutrition in pediatric chronic liver disease is evident from lower anthropometric measures, reduced BMD, and altered body composition compared with controls.