Aim An evaluation of body composition changes in children with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD).

Material and Method We assessed body composition using bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) in 89 children aged 5–18 years with IBD (57 children with ulcerative colitis (UC), 32 – with Crohn’s disease (CD).

Results Children with CD were more likely to have fat mass (FM) deficiency (38%) than UC (18%), p=0.036. FM deficiency was detected both at the CD onset and in CD remission. 25% UC patients had excess FM, in CD it was 6% (p=0.028). The active cell mass (ACM) was low in 78% of children with CD and 65% with UC. A quarter of all IBD patients had skeletal muscle mass (SMM) deficiency. Decreased lean mass (LM) was in 59% of CD patients and 54% of UC. Low phase angle (PA) < 5.4 was detected more often in CD relapse (p=0.029). The average indicators of FM, ACM and PA were significantly lower in newly diagnosed IBD (onset) in contrast to children who were in remission. The average body composition indicators did not differ depending on the use of corticosteroids in the history of the disease. Children with CD receiving TNF-α blockers had significantly high indicators of TM, ACM and PA. A third of UC patients had normal anthropometric parameters; however, nutritional status impairments were revealed using BIA.

Conclusions IBD in childhood are characterized by frequent body composition disorders, which are manifested by deficiency or excess FM, as well as a deficiency of LM in more than half of the patients, ACM in ˜70% of children and a deficiency of SMM in almost a third of children. These components and the PA values are significantly lower at the IBD onset than in the remission. Active CD are characterized by more profound body components deficiency and low PA values compared to active UC.