SOMATOMETRIC INDICATORS OF PRIMARY SCHOOL-AGE CHILDREN WITH SPASTIC FORM OF CEREBRAL PALSY

Abstract

Introduction. The problem of physical education and sports rehabilitation of children with disabilities is currently in the focus of domestic and foreign science. Today, research covers a wide range of problems that have arisen in society’s attempts to help children with disabilities. Among the current issues of paediatric neurology, the leading place is occupied by the problem of the development of the incidence of cerebral palsy (ICP). The purpose of the article was to study the somatometric indicators of modern primary school children with spastic forms of cerebral palsy. Research methods: theoretical analysis and generalization of literary sources, anthropometry, methods of mathematical statistics. Results. The study of somatometric indicators of primary school children with spastic forms of ICP and their practically healthy peers showed that children with spastic diplegia had much smaller body lengths (by 1,4 cm) and body weights (by 1,3 kg) compared to practically healthy children, what indicates a significant impact of this form of ICP on physical development. At the same time, the chest circumference in them remained similar to the indicators of practically healthy children, with no statistically significant differences. Children with spastic hemiparesis did not have the statistically significant differences in body length, body weight, and chest circumference compared to practically healthy children, so that, the spastic hemiparesis less disrupts physical development indicators, what makes them closer to the age norms. Additional confirmation of this conclusion is the fact that their body weight was significantly greater than in children with spastic diplegia. Conclusions. Children with spastic diplegia had significantly lower body length and weight, which was associated with more pronounced motor function disorders and the influence of ICP on metabolic processes. In contrast, children with spastic hemiparesis demonstrated better physical development indicators, close to those of practically healthy children. Chest circumference in all groups remained stable, what may be a marker of the anatomical cell and the independence of this parameter from motor damage.