Cerebral palsy is a group of disorders that affects a person’s movement, posture, and balance. Cerebral palsy is one of the most common childhood disabilities, affecting 2–3 out of every 1000 babies born worldwide3.

Cerebral palsy is typically detected in infants aged between 12 and 24 months. Early signs may include infants being slower to learn skills such as rolling over, sitting up, standing, and walking. If symptoms are mild, cerebral palsy may not be discovered until later in childhood³.

Cerebral palsy causes lifelong problems with movement, posture, and balance. Typical symptoms of cerebral palsy include poor muscle co-ordination, exaggerated reflexes, stiffness, weakness, and difficulties when speaking, eating and swallowing³.

The severity of these symptoms varies from person to person. Some children with cerebral palsy can walk independently and manage daily activities without help; others will need a wheelchair, tube-feeding, and lifelong specialist care³.

For parents, learning that your child has been diagnosed with cerebral palsy can be daunting and hard to process. Your child may have complex medical issues that will need ongoing specialist care. You will also need to learn how to support your child at home. Ensuring that your child eats and drinks enough is a daily task for all parents – but for children with cerebral palsy, this can present multiple challenges.

Feeding and swallowing difficulties are very common in cerebral palsy⁴. This is because children with cerebral palsy frequently have damage to the parts of the brain that control eating and swallowing⁵.

Children with cerebral palsy may experience reflux, vomiting, and drooling^4,5. They may also develop aspiration, whereby food or liquid enters the airways, potentially leading to lung infections⁴. Some children may be unable to swallow safely and require tube-feeding⁴.

Feeding and swallowing difficulties can make for long and stressful mealtimes⁴. The resulting reduction in macro- and micronutrient intake can negatively affect children’s growth and development, with consequences for long-term health⁴.

If you find it difficult to start the nutrition conversation, it may be useful to use an approved questionnaire or screening tool, the results of which could be used to initiate the conversation.

Growth charts are widely used to check whether a child’s height and weight are normal for their age. When completed over a period of time, weight and height charts also show whether a child’s growth is on track or whether there are signs for concern⁶. Growth charts are typically completed during medical checkups.

Recently, a new tool was created for parents of children and young people with cerebral palsy⁷. Developed by experts and tested with children with cerebral palsy, the Feeding and Nutrition Screening Tool (FNST) comprises 4 simple questions that can be answered by parents, without any specialist medical knowledge⁷. Based on their answers, the FNST can identify, with a high level of accuracy, children at risk of feeding/swallowing difficulties and undernutrition.