Article by Master, Dr Vu Duy Chinh – High-Technical Unit for Treatment of Cerebral Palsy and Autism – Share99 Times City International Health Hub
Eating a child with cerebral palsy is always difficult and does not keep up with sensory developmental milestones – mouth movement compared to normal children. Eating impairments in children with cerebral palsy are classified as neuro-derived swallowing disorders.
1. Eating problems in children with cerebral palsy
Eating problems can be very complicated for children with cerebral palsy, in fact, an estimated 35% of children with cerebral palsy are malnourished. Children with cerebral palsy are often thin, malnourished due to poor eating, children are often sick, hard-working children all day consume more energy, so it makes them more malnourished. Therefore, caring for children with cerebral palsy is essential and important, what children with cerebral palsy need to eat, how to eat to gain weight, not choke, not to suffer from constipation… is a question many parents come to see and seek advice from a doctor.
Feeding children enough substances, balanced nutritional ingredients:
- Protein:Meat, fish, eggs, milk …
- Glucid: Rice, cereals, potatoes …
- Lipids: Fat, cooking oil
- Vitamins, minerals and fiber:Balance the composition of greens, fruits …
It is recommended to feed children with cerebral palsy with soft and easily digestible food, diverse dishes. For children with cerebral palsy in the age of eating miles,in addition to breast milk, the child needs to be fed additional food such as porridge or milk, in case the child is poorly eaten, it is necessary to break it down into several meals, eat several times a day.
For children with a lot of muscle spasms, difficult mouth and tongue movement needs to be practiced for the child to strengthen the oral muscles and use the tongue more effectively, helping the child to eat more easily, reducing the risk of choking. If the practice of chewing muscle group is unsuccessful, the child eats poorly, or vomits, the surgery to put a gastric feeding tube to feed the child is a solution to ensure sufficient nutrition for the child.
The right position when caring for children with cerebralpalsy , feeding is also important, to facilitate the child to easily swallow food, avoid choking, vomiting. Carrying and supporting the child's head slightly bending, helping to soften the muscle groups, neck muscles, when putting food for the child should bring food from the bottom up, avoid stimulating the child to look backwards.
There are 3 main abnormal problems in swallowing:
- Poor tongue function
- Children don't want to swallow
- Decrease in servant movement
In chewing, children with cerebral palsy also encounter difficulties, the tongue sticking reflex pushes the food out but sometimes the tongue is held tightly on the hard arch and causes the food to be squeezed instead of chewed. Therefore, when food is given behind the oral cavity, it is not able to make food balls to create swallowing reflexes, resulting in vomiting and choking. In addition to the difficulties in controlling the position, the difficulties of head and neck movement, upper 2 20s, grip make it difficult for children with cerebral palsy to achieve self-eating skills.
2. How can children with cerebral palsy eat easily?
For all of these issues and causes, experts offer options for dealing with the purpose of:
- Ensure nutrition and safety while eating, avoid choking food
- Formation of proper eating patterns of lips, tongue, jaws
- Help children become independent in eating, form good eating behavior
2.1 Sensory conditioning of the lips
- Get the feeling from far to near: 2 hands, face, mouth
- Conduct a massage with your fingers on both sides of the cheek muscles, inside the cheeks, on the tongue, and the child's benefits with the appropriate force.
- The temperature and texture of the feed play a role in providing sensory awareness and conditioning in the mouth. Solid and solid food provides more sensory information for the child.
2.2 Correct feeding position
Favorable for eating and drinking:
- The head and back sitting position is straight, with your hands facing the middle line, ensuring relaxation, comfort and facilitating eating.
- Keep your head and hands folded forward, always keep food and drink from the bottom up and from the front.
- Place the child slightly reclining to keep it straight, head and back straight (the body for the child to sit on the lap opposite the mother)
- When the child is better balanced, place the child sitting upright, his hips folded and shaped through his mother's thighs (mother and child sitting opposite)
- Combined with the use of adapted tools such as special seats for children.
2.3 "Function control" technique
Help enhance function control by supporting the function to a more or less extent on a case-by-case level.
- 3 fingers the treater puts on the lower lip, lower jaw and pedial joint of the jaw
- The "jaw control" technique will help children keep their mouths shut, chew and swallow better.
- Use this technique when the baby opens his mouth constantly, drooling and poor chewing ability.
- When the bite reflex increases: The treating person presses with deep force on the thai joint – jaw, using a flat plastic spoon (spoon) to protect the teeth.
- When your child sticks out their tongue: Use a "jaw control" technique that coordinates with the use of a spoon bottom that presses the line between the tongue when inserting a spoon into the child's mouth. Practice exercises that move the tongue over the sides.
- When the child's tongue is pulled back, touch the hard arch: swipe on the sock blade a pressure directed from back to front, pat under the chin and maintain a folded head position, chin facing down the chest while sitting eating.
2.4 How to practice chewing
Place food in the middle of the molars
2.5. Self-feeding exercise: Gradually reduce the support for children when eating
Start by loading your child, holding her own food, and then guiding her hand over her mouth to feel and experience. Then train with spoons, chopsticks…
The right position when feeding a child, for children with cerebral palsy can use a special chair specifically for the child.
The pediatrics department at Share99 International Health Hub is the address to receive and examine the diseases that babies as well as young children are susceptible to: viral fever, bacterial fever, otitis media, pneumonia in children,… With modern equipment, ile space, minimize the impact as well as the risk of spreading the disease. Along with that is the dedication from experienced doctors to pediatric patients, making the examination no longer a concern of parents.
Customers can directly go to Share99 Health System nationwide for examination or contact the hotline HERE for assistance.
- Caring for common difficult problems in children with cerebral palsy
- What to know about cerebral palsy
- How old can stem cell transplants treat cerebral palsy?