Nutritional Challenges of Children with Disabilities in Special Needs Center in Mainland, Lagos State, Nigeria

The study determined the nutritional challenges of persons with disability in special needs centers in mainland, Lagos State. Three research questions guided the study. Survey research design was adopted. The population of the study was 57. No sampling was done since the population was a manageable size. Validated questionnaire was used for data collection. Data collected were analyzed using mean and standard deviation. Findings showed that the types of disabilities among children in special need centers in Lagos State included among others: physical disability, learning disability, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, attention deficit disorder/attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism and speech and language disorder. Findings also revealed that the nutritional needs of children with disability included feeding on different foods, drinking water regularly, taking fruits daily, and ensuring that their nutrient requirements are met daily. Findings indicated that the nutritional challenges of children with disability included among others: excessive salivation, frequent constipation, inability to feed oneself, depending on care givers for feeding, food dropping from the mouth while being fed and difficulty in chewing and swallowing foods. Conclusion was made. Among recommendations made was that children with disabilities should be provided with variety of foods daily to meet their nutritional needs and parents/caregivers should devote more feeding time to the disabled child.