Objective. This study was designed to determine the effect of home ent
eral nutrition on the outcomes of growth and the relationship between
growth and entrance anthropometric criteria. Methods. We reviewed the
medical records of 78 consecutive children (median age, 20 months) who
were enrolled in the home enteral feeding program at the Alberta Chil
dren's Hospital (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) between 1993 and 1995. Weig
hts, heights, and weight-for-heights were expressed as Z scores, using
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention anthropometric growth
curve software. To evaluate growth outcome,:the total group was furthe
r subdivided using anthropometric criteria into appropriate, wasted, o
r stunted at the time of entry to the program. In a subgroup of 36 chi
ldren on whom anthropometric data was available for a median length of
5.7 months, Z scores were compared at 3 points in time: before entry,
at time of entry, and last follow-up. Results. Patients were classifi
ed into five main groups: 11 (14%) had pulmonary disease, 26 (33%) had
a gastrointestinal disorder, 21 (27%) had congenital defects, 10 (13%
) had a neurologic disorder, and the remaining 10 (13%) had a variety
of other illnesses, including malignancies and metabolic disorders. Pa
tients were on the program for a median duration of 8.9 months. It was
found that during the period of support within the program, enteral f
eeding was successful in improving weight-for-age Z scores by 0.42 sta
ndard deviations but the effect on height-for-age Z scores and weight-
for-height Z scores did not reach significance for this population. Th
e subgroup of 36 children on whom longitudinal anthropometric data was
available before entering the program was found to have had a signifi
cant drop in weight Z scores between the time before program entry (me
dian length of time, 5.7 months) and the time of program entry, which
indicates that these children were falling off the growth curve before
commencing enteral feeding. To evaluate growth outcome, the total gro
up was further subdivided using anthropometric criteria into appropria
te, wasted, or stunted at the time of entry to the program. In the gro
up of appropriate growth patients, while in the program, 50% had catch
-up growth for weight (positive change in Z scores) and 33% for height
. In the wasted patients, 92% improved their weight percentile and 75%
their height percentile. In the stunted group, 71% had catch-up growt
h for weight and 74% for height. Conclusion. We concluded that the ent
eral feeding program was able to promote catch-up growth or maintain g
rowth along percentiles in the majority of children.