Good Nutrition Can Help
A good cerebral palsy diet can make a huge difference in the life of your child. While it might cost more to get your child the right nutrition, they will have a happier and healthier life this way. In most of the cases, children who have CP and receive the correct level of nutrition, good medical intervention and therapy will go on to live a happy and healthy life. However, you need to work with a child like this even more because this birth injury can make things harder on them.
Studies Show Good Nutrition Helps
Based on recent medical studies, researchers have learned what a big difference a good cerebral palsy diet can make in the life of a child. Malnourishment in children with CP happens more often than what researchers had previously believed. An estimated 30 to 80 percent of children who have this condition were found to have malnourishment problems because of how many of them struggle with feeding. You have to have patience and understand how a lack of nutrition can lead to your child feeling malnourished.
You have a few signs to be aware of with malnourishment in your child. If you don’t deal with it correctly, it can even lead to the death of your child. For example, if you notice that your child bruises easily, or he has a sensitivity to light, this could indicate that your child is malnourished.
Teaching Your Child Independence
One of your goals over the long term becomes about teaching your child the necessary independence. You want to foster your child in such a way that he will feel more independent over time with his feeding. To begin, you might let your child eat with finger foods. However, you should exercise patience and understand that your child has a birth disorder, which will make it a little harder on him. Provided everything goes okay, your child can slowly make the move toward eating with utensils, cups and straws.
While it is important to encourage your child, you show step in from time to time if they seem to be struggling. You want to keep up with it and continue to ensure that your child received an adequate level of help. One diet that has been shown to help children with CP is known as the Ketogenic diet. It works because a child with this condition experiences what has become known as ketosis when it increases the number of ketones in the body. You have low carb foods and high-fat foods that have shown to be especially successful in children who experience seizures.