Aim: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a nutrition education program on the nutritional knowledge levels of parents/caregivers and to assess the nutritional status of children with cerebral palsy (CP).Method: The study was conducted with 19 children aged 2–18 years with CP and their parents/caregivers. Height and weight were measured using knee height (KH) and mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) measurements. To assess nutritional status, parents completed a questionnaire, and a 24-hour dietary recall was collected and evaluated using the BeBiS 8.2 program, with reference to the Turkish Dietary Guidelines (TÜBER, 2022). Risk of nutritional impairment was assessed using the Tool for Risk of Impaired Nutritional Status and Growth (STRONGkids), and swallowing function was assessed using The Pediatric Version of the Eating Assessment Tool (PEDI-EAT-10). Nutrition education was provided to parents, and a 20-question pre- and post-education test was administered to measure changes in knowledge levels. The education was delivered via video recording. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and non-parametric tests, with p0.05 considered statistically significant.Results: The average age of the 19 children in the study was 7.9±3.6 years, and 10.5% were classified as having severe thinness. According to TÜBER (2022), 63.2% of children had excessive energy and fat intake, while calcium, folic acid, and vitamin D intake were insufficient. The effectiveness of the nutrition education given to the parents was analyzed. The mean pre-test score was 15.5, while the mean post-test score increased to 18.0 (p=0.009).Conclusion: The nutrition education provided significantly increased parents' nutritional knowledge. Parents of children with CP require ongoing nutritional information and support. Therefore, nutrition education programs should be developed and implemented by multidisciplinary teams to meet the needs of these families.
İslamoğlu et al. (2025) studied this question.