Joanna Budzulak

Background/Objectives: Attention is a fundamental cognitive parameter, essential for developmental processes. It enables the selective processing of environmental stimuli and guides behavioral responses. Obesity, apart from its broad influence on human somatic health, is also associated with mental and cognitive functioning. In childhood obesity, detailed attention assessment could help elucidate the relationship between the condition and cognitive development, and perhaps also help predict specific difficulties during treatment. The aim of the study was to investigate attention functioning in children and adolescents with obesity using the computerized continuous performance test (CPT). Methods: The study involved 71 children, including 23 with obesity and 48 healthy children with normal body weight. The MOXO CPT was used to assess attention parameters in all participants. The test covered four parameters: sustained attention, timing, impulsivity, and hyperactivity. Results: Children with obesity obtained significantly lower CPT results in terms of timing (p = 0.024), hyperactivity (p = 0.001), and impulsivity (p < 0.001), while the difference in sustained attention did not reach statistical significance (p = 0.074). Conclusions: Attention efficiency appears to be reduced in children with obesity compared with their healthy peers. Assessment of attention parameters in this group of patients could be valuable in the context of planning and implementing therapeutic interventions. Children with coexisting obesity and impaired attention functioning would probably require more assistance in following daily behavioral and nutritional recommendations.

Background and Objectives: Growth failure is the main symptom of growth hormone deficiency (GHD) in children. The standard treatment for GHD is the administration of recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH). However, this therapy seems to be less effective in undernourished children. Our study aimed to investigate if professional dietary counseling could affect the parameters of growth response in GHD children undergoing rhGH treatment. Methods: The study group involved 29 prepubertal children with GHD (20 boys and 9 girls) aged 8.7 ± 2.50, who were subject to a year of individualized nutritional counseling from a dietician, which included three sessions in 6-month intervals, starting at the beginning of rhGH treatment. The control group consisted of 47 children with GHD (33 boys and 14 girls) aged 8.8 ± 1.73 who were not under the care of the dietician during their rhGH treatment. Parameters of growth response, including the variation of height standard deviation score (ΔhSDS) and height velocity (HV), were compared between the groups during the first two years of rhGH therapy. Results: The mean HV and ΔhSDS were slightly higher in the study group than in the control group during both the first and the second year of rhGH therapy, however, those differences did not reach a statistical significance. BMI z-score was stable throughout the observation period. Conclusions: One-year of dietary counseling, starting at the beginning of rhGH treatment, and conducted in 6-month intervals did not significantly improve the parameters of growth response in prepubertal GHD children during the first two years of the therapy.

Purpose: Growth hormone deficiency (GHD) causes growth disturbances during childhood. The most recommended treatment of GHD is the administration of recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH). Recent studies have proved that well-nourished GHD children respond better to rhGH therapy compared to undernourished individuals. The aim of this study was to analyze nutritional status along with height velocity in GHD children during the first two years of rhGH therapy, and to estimate the optimal BMI z-score range in which these children achieve the best growth results. Methods: This retrospective analysis included 80 prepubertal idiopathic GHD children treated with rhGH. Anthropometric data were obtained from medical records made at an initial visit and then follow-up visits after 12 and 24 months of treatment. The body mass index (BMI) was calculated and standardized into z-score, basing on Cole’s LMS method. Then, the BMI z-score was analyzed in relation to the parameters of growth response. Results: The higher the BMI z-score at treatment entry, the greater the increase in height during the first twelve months of rhGH therapy. BMI z-score ≥0 noted at the beginning of each year of the treatment are associated with significantly better growth increments throughout the first and the second years of the therapy. Conclusion: Prepubertal idiopathic GHD children with BMI z-score below 0 would probably benefit from the improvement of their nutritional status prior to the rhGH treatment beginning. It seems that increasing BMI z-score to obtain values between 0 and 1 would be optimal for the growth process.

Introduction and objective: According to the World Health Organization (WHO), malnutrition is a term that covers three broad groups of conditions: undernutrition, micronutrient-related malnutrition, and overweight with obesity, and diet-related non-communicable diseases. Undernutrition is the...