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Abstract

Growth failure is a major problem in children with chronic renal failure (CRF). A number of factors have been suggested as explanations for this impaired growth including renal osteodystrophy, age of onset of chronic renal failure, degree of azotemia and nutritional status. As children with CRF are frequently unable to maintain sufficient nutrient intakes for optimal growth, the nutritional status of these individuals must obviously have a major, if as yet poorly understood, role in the observed growth failure. Therefore, a nutritional, physical and biochemical study was conducted to assess the nutritional status of seven children undergoing maintenance hemodialysis. To evaluate the adequacy of dietary intake, fourteen day food records were obtained from each of the participants and average nutrient intakes were compared to the recommended daily nutrient intake of the Canadian Dietary Standard (CDS) (1975). To assess the physical status of the children, height, height velocity, weight, per cent body fat, and bone age were determined. As abnormalities of taste sensitivity are known to influence dietary patterns, salivary flow rates, salivary urea concentrations, and taste detection and recognition thresholds for sweet, sour, salt and bitter were determined pre and post dialysis. Biochemical investigations included the determination of pre and post dialysis plasma amino acid concentrations following a standardized fast of five hours, and the quantification of the amounts of amino acids lost into dialysate during a complete hemodialysis treatment. The mean caloric intake of 54% ±11 of the CDS is inadequate for optimal growth. The mean protein intake was 1.09 ±.16 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. The first and second limiting amino acids were histidine and threonine, respectively. Nutritional deficiencies of certain water soluble vitamins (riboflavin, niacin and pyridoxine) existed for some of the children. The mean zinc, magnesium and copper intakes were 45% ±8, 51% ±19 and 54% ±32 of the CDS, respectively. Growth (as measured by body height and weight) was found to be retarded one to two standard deviations from normal in the children studied. Per cent body fat estimations were within normal limits, but bone age was frequently below chronological age. Taste sensitivity was impaired as shown by elevated pre dialysis sweet and bitter recognition thresholds (p