Eating habits in children with down syndrome in Malaysia / Hafizah Hussain

Down syndrome is the most common genetic disorder in which individuals with Down syndrome carried 4 7 total number of chromosome compared to 46 in normal individual. Down syndrome , children are expected to have poor eating habit as they have weaker immunity system, lower IQ and weak muscle tone. The aims of this study are to research eating behavior, determine nutritional status and study the breastfeeding pattern in children with Down syndrome in Malaysia. The data was collected via questionnaires. Some questionnaires were distributed via post and some were directly distributed to respondents in place. In this study, out of 170 set of questionnaires distributed, only 91 were response. The statistical analyses used were descriptive statistics test, Chi-square test and Kruskal-Wallis test. Based on the result, 96.7% respondents agreed that eating behavior was one of important factor that contribute to Down syndrome children's development. Incidence of choking among Down syndrome children was not frequently occurred (n=53). There was negative correlation between the first solid food introduced in 6 to 10 months and BMI range (r=-0.129). There were no correlation between BMI range and number of different kinds of food introduced (p=0.35). (58.2%) of respondents believed that underweight common problem in Down syndrome children. Chi-square test showed a significant difference between BMI range and supplementation for children with Down syndrome (p=0.038). About 86.8% of mothers care about child positioning during breastfeeding.