Hi yall,

I was wondering if anyone ever heard of a correlation between cp and obesity, especially in children. Is it possible for cp to affect any organs or glands and somehow cause a slower metabolism?

The reason I ask is because my daughter is still putting on excess weight. She last weighed in at 45 pounds back in May... she was 2 years and 4 months old then. I haven't weighed her lately but I can tell she is getting heavier just by lifting her. She eats three small toddler-sized meals a day.
And drinks kool-aid with no calorie sweetener. I don't know where the extra weight is coming from.

I'm really concerned about the affect of excess weight could have on her right leg because she has spastic hemiparesis cp on her right side. Has anyone ever heard of anything that might relate to this?

Thanks,
Melissa

My son is overweight, but I think it's more because he's not as physically active.

Hi yall,

I was wondering if anyone ever heard of a correlation between cp and obesity, especially in children. Is it possible for cp to affect any organs or glands and somehow cause a slower metabolism?

Hmm. I've read on some websites that people with CP often tend to be thin, because spastic - and especially athetoid muscles - demand more energy than usual muscles. I don't know if this is true, but when I told a physiotherapist about this theory, she said that it sounded plausible.

I've always been slim, even if I'm noticed that I'm not a person who can eat anything without gaining weight :)

So physical inactivity may be the reason. But talk to a doctor if the situation continues

Hey Melisa,

I'm a right hemi, just like your daughter. I'm 14 years old, 4'11", and 125 pounds, and although this isn't thin, it's just right for me. I've never noticed any issues with my muscles due to the excess weight. But I agree: talk to a doctor.

My son is overweight, but I think it's more because he's not as physically active.

How overweight is your son?

My daughter has the average weight of a five year old. And she is still continuing to gain. Cutting back on her calories hasn't worked anymore. She is not very physically active either.

If her weight gain continues to increase like it has been, she will probably be morbidly obese. It's really beginning to worry me.

I'm going to take to to her pediatrician here soon to check on it.

Thanks,
Melissa

Hi yall,

I was wondering if anyone ever heard of a correlation between cp and obesity, especially in children. Is it possible for cp to affect any organs or glands and somehow cause a slower metabolism?

The reason I ask is because my daughter is still putting on excess weight. She last weighed in at 45 pounds back in May... she was 2 years and 4 months old then. I haven't weighed her lately but I can tell she is getting heavier just by lifting her. She eats three small toddler-sized meals a day.
And drinks kool-aid with no calorie sweetener. I don't know where the extra weight is coming from.

I'm really concerned about the affect of excess weight could have on her right leg because she has spastic hemiparesis cp on her right side. Has anyone ever heard of anything that might relate to this?

Thanks,
Melissa

Are you or you husband heavy? Even if your mother or father, or your husbands mother or father are heavy, heredity plays a larger role in why your daughter is gaining weight. I have spastic hemiparesis CP on my right side and I'm 6 foot 1 inch at 185 pounds. I know many people with disabilities, and they are just like the general population when it comes to obesity and being over weight. Food intake related to the level of physical activity affects weight gain too. CP can affect weight gain in this way, but it doesn't have to. The people with I know that have athetiod CP are all very skinny folks.

It stands to reason, weight affects how we can get around. It will affect your daughters ability and desire to move around and be physically active, it does the same for AB people...

I've considered heredity but it really doesn't fit. There are many of us in the family who are a little on the chunky side but most aren't excessively overweight... most are 10 to 20 lbs over. And all were of normal weight ranges as young children. So really, weight gain in our families come from our own eating habits.

My husband has always been big, but my mother-in-law is the type of mother that feeds her kids huge meals and plenty of cornbread. He's 6 ft at 280 lbs. I was of normal weight in early childhood. I'm 5'5" at 150 now. I've been "cornbread-poisoned" by my mother-in-law... lol.

Thanks,
Melissa

I think in part because physical activity is more demanding, our son avoids it sometimes. So we have to push harder sometimes to get him active. It may be the same with your child. And make sure you eat only high fiber cornbread! :D

I have lost 8 pounds in the last month because my wife is in Virginia taking care of her mother, and I am in Montana taking out the garbage, cooking, cleaning, vacuuming after 2 cats. All this takes standing and walking more than I'm used to. In other words, I am getting more exercise, and eating about the same. There is NO more correlation between CP and Obesity, than there is between eating and exercise! Remember, I have Spastic Right-Side Hemiplegia CP from birth circa 1950...

Hi,

I have a 36mth old son with mild cp. He is short for his age (or so I'm told), and is about 32lbs. He is skinny to me, and I want to fatten him up, lol.

If your daughter has problems with movement, that could cause weight gain. I am not sure, but maybe her doctor could give you some indight. Good luck!!

BabyLuv,
don't make too much out of your son's height at his age. Doctors told my parents that I would not be over 5 feet tall. If you take the curve out of my lower back, I'm over 6 foot 5 inches!

BabyLuv,
don't make too much out of your son's height at his age. Doctors told my parents that I would not be over 5 feet tall. If you take the curve out of my lower back, I'm over 6 foot 5 inches!


I know, its just that his pediatrician had me worried over it. I'm 5'2" and dad is 5'7". I also have a son almost 18mths who is only about 4in shorter than my 3yr old. He is also husky. I think the genes probably factor in here quite a bit.

I have cp, I'm 5'2" and 100-105 pounds. I have to laugh because I've wondered before if cp correlated to being UNDERweight. Maybe, maybe not. I don't know. Maybe different types of cp affect weight in different ways....?

Do you remember the websites where you read that, Strawberry1? Interesting......

"Maybe different types of cp affect weight in different ways....?"

I think you got it Nutcase... People that have CP, have just as much chance of being fat or skinny as the general population. The degree of activity or inactivity is definitely a factor in both people with CP and in people without CP

I know :) But by that question I meant, does cp affect weight at all, I wonder (whether under/overweight) Because I am the skinniest person in my family, and was wondering if it was because of my cp.

Ok let my put it another way... People that have CP and a great deal of spastisity, burn a lot more calories just from the spastic muscles. These muscles are always active, thus they use more energy. If you can't move much and you eat a lot, you'll be overweight. There are many forms of CP, and in some, there are several different forms in one person... Exercise for many of us is vacuuming, making the bed, cleaning the cat box and taking out the trash, going shopping, going to the bank, pushing our wheelchairs and even walking. I've lost 12 pounds in 2 months while my wife is away helping her ill mother. I do chores that I don't do normally. Are you starting to get my point? Remember too, Obesity is a completely different thing than being over weight. No matter how hard you try, you're not going to find that by just having CP, you're going to be fat... It's just NOT true!

Thanks :D I never realized that spastic muscles are always active so they burn calories.

This explains it, although I love to exercise, eat a balanced diet, and LOVE fruits and vegetables, so could this be a reason why I am slim?? ;) I see your point.

Hello again nutcase16,
I grew up around many different types of CP. Athetiod CP, by far had the most skinny people. I dont think they use that classification much any more. You do understand the difference between being obeise and being over weight? It's about 100 pounds!

Hi musicmaker,

Trust me, I understand the difference, especially since I have a wide variety of friends :D

Hey yall,

If I'm not mistaken, obesity is considered 30 lbs or more over your "ideal weight." Morbid obesity is 100 lbs or more. And just being overweight can mean up to 30 lbs over the ideal weight.

Many people can be obese and still be healthy, but morbid obesity seems to be a prime source of many health problems and esteem problems.

I'm afraid that my daughter will end up morbidly obese if her weight continues to climb. Her weight right now is almost twice that of the norm. It's like it's out of control. She's very happy and healthy now, but I'm afraid what may happen in the future. Having cp is enough for her to have to deal with.

Can someone be morbidly obese without having a cause for the excess weight? Is that just the way some people are built?

Thanks,
Melissa

I like to think of obese as 50 pounds over, but you're right. My sweet wife is about 330 pounds and she has been morbidly obese since she was 10. She'll be 41 next week, and she has had many health problems... No CP though :)

Your daughter will probably be heavy, but wait until she hits puberty and see what happens. Just do you best to introduce and keep her interested in "good" foods and nutrition. Don't make a big deal about her weight. It most certainly will make it harder for her...

Don't worry... I don't make an issue out of her weight. She still gets to eat the good stuff. Afterall, what's childhood without candy. I just do little things like pour her sippy cup half full and cook with leaner ingredients.

She's not the kind of child that throws temper tantrums over food. So keeping her calories to a minimum is easy. And strangly enough, she likes veggies... especially broccoli.

But because she is a girl, I'm afraid she might make an issue of her weight when she becomes a teenager. I know I was like that (and I still am to a degree). But then again, how in the world is a girl not to be worried about her weight when all you see advertised in magazines are diet plans?

I love her just the way she is and I hope she will always feel the same way about herself... hefty or not. :)

-Melissa

Good advise Melissa,
I think the puberty thing is more for males, although girls do reach physical maturity before boys. Society views girls weight more closely too...