Effect of Motor Intervention In Underfed Children With Development Backwardness

  • Chandra da Silveira Langoni
  • Jordana Rigon
  • Rosana Rusch
  • Carla Skilhan de Almeida Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
  • Thais de Lima Resende Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul
Keywords: Child Development, Malnutrition, Poverty, Physiotherapy

Abstract

Current research evaluates the effects of a motor intervention in socialization, language usage and fine-wide motricity in underfed children. Case study was performed with children in the outskirts of a Brazilian state capital city. Weight-height, height-age and weight-age indexes evaluated the nutritional conditions. Denver II triage test (global development and four dominions: personal-social, language, fine and wide motricity) evaluated the neuropsychomotor development. Seven children, aged from 0 to 6 years, were divided into two groups: intervention (GI) and control (GC) group. Intervention, performed in 12 half-hour sessions once a week, consisted of simple, low-cost games adapted to the children´s social, economical and cultural reality. GI children had a better performance or maintained scores during the four evaluated dominions, coupled to the global development score in which they had received the “abnormal” classification during the pre-intervention period and “normal” in the post-intervention one. Opposite results were obtained in GC in which the children showed a lowering or maintenance of scores in the four dominions and kept the classification “abnormal” in the global development score during the post-control period. Intervention caused a gain in neuropsychomotor development of GI children and made them supersede the influence of risk factors to which they were exposed together with the GC children.

Author Biographies

Chandra da Silveira Langoni
Fisioterapeuta do Grupo Hospitalar Conceição, Especialista em Fisioterapia Hospitalar e Saúde da Família e Comunidade.
Jordana Rigon
Fisioterapeuta
Rosana Rusch
Fisioterapeuta; E-mail: rosana_rusch@yahoo.com.br
Carla Skilhan de Almeida, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
Fisioterapeuta, Doutor em Ciência do Movimento Humano, Professora adjunta do curso de Fisioterapia da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul.
Thais de Lima Resende, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul
Fisioterapeuta, Doutor em Ciências da Saúde pela Pontifícia Universidade Católica - PUCRS, Docente titular da Faculdade de Enfermagem, Nutrição e Fisioterapia da Pontifícia Universidade Católica - PUCRS
Published
2013-02-13
Section
Relato de Casos