The first meeting with parents of children with cerebral palsy (CP) was organized at Danone Research & Innovation, following a Danone Research & Innovation call to set up a parent group. Increasingly, Danone Research & Innovation involves patient groups in a very early R&D stage. By doing so Danone Research & Innovation is able to better understand the true needs of patients and their carers and to take these into account at an early stage in the development of new concepts.
Feeding difficulties are common in children with CP
17 million people across the world are living with cerebral palsy and it is the most common cause of physical disability in childhood. CP is caused by damage to the brain during pregnancy, around birth, or shortly after, affecting the part of the brain that controls movement, balance and posture. As a consequence this hampers a child’s ability to for example chew or swallow, thereby developing a high risk for undernourishment.
Ana Smorenburg, Senior Scientist at Danone Research & Innovation: “It can be challenging to ensure these children meet their required nutritional intake and this can sometimes even put a burden on the quality of life of these families. According to the World CP Day organisation there are 350 million family, friends and supporters who care for people with CP. We invite parents for the parent group to get a better insight into their daily life, which can help us generate ideas that deal with the nutritional intake of children with CP and their families, to make their lives easier. You don’t get these insights from literature, but from real stories and first hand.”
Interested in joining the parent group?
If you’re interested participating in the cerebral palsy parent group, please contact
Ana Bonouvrié, senior scientist at Danone Research & Innovation at ana.bonouvrie@nutricia.com or +31 (0)6 46 86 97 69.