Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a rare neuromuscular disease characterized by the degeneration of motor neurons, leading to progressive weakness of skeletal and respi-ratory muscles. The disease affects the body composition and nutritional status of pati-ents. The aim of the study was to assess the nutritional status of children with SMA treated at the Pediatric Clinic of the University Medical Center Ljubljana. Nutritional status was evaluated based on retrospectively collected data on body weight (BW), he-ight (H), body mass index (BMI), and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) mea-surements conducted up to May 2023. Dietary intake was also assessed using a valida-ted food frequency questionnaire. The study included 21 children with SMA (type I: n = 2, type II: n = 13, type III: n = 8, type IV: n = 0), comprising 10 girls and 11 boys. During the study period, 19 children were treated with the drug nusinersen. Mea-surements of BW, H, and BMI were compared at two time points over a period from 0.5 to 2 years, and changes were compared with control group. The proportion of children with low BW increased over time (from 35 to 55 %). Also, when comparing changes in z- score weight for age (WAZ), z-score height for age (HAZ) and z-score body mass index (BMIZ) over time, the values WAZ and HAZ was decreased. Stati-stically significant differences was observed in both measurements for WAZ (first me-asurement p = 0,003, second measurement p < 0,001), HAZ (first measurement p = 0,01, second measurement p = 0,003), and BMIZ (first measurement p = 0,05, second measurement p = 0,008) compared to the control group. Body composition analysis re-vealed that children with SMA had a higher fat mass percentage (p < 0,001) and a lower lean mass (p = 0,026) compared to the control group. From the dietary intake analysis, it was found that children with SMA frequently consumed foods that are go-od sources of protein (meat, fish, legumes, meat products), except for milk and dairy products. They also consumed fruit (frequency = 1,34) and vegetables (frequency = 2,41) multiple times daily. Less than half (39 %) of the children regularly supplemented their diet with oral nutritional supplements, but all consumed vitamin D (100 %) and nearly all (83 %) consumed cal-cium carbonate. The study confirmed that a relatively high proportion of the children were inadequately nourished, highlighting the importance of including a dietitian in the treatment of patients with SMA.
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