In his 20 years of treating children, Dr. Jack Stephens, a Mukilteo pediatrician, said he has never treated such a severe case of malnutrition as what is reported to have happened to a 4-year-old Everett-area boy.
The youngster was hospitalized last week after police found him nearly starved to death and weighing only 22 pounds – half that of a healthy boy his age.
Stephens, who works for The Everett Clinic, said from what he has read about the case, the boy appears to have had very severe malnutrition.
On average, 4-year-old boys weigh about 35 pounds, he said.
But kids that age can hit 44 pounds and still be well with the normal range for their age.
“So for normal, average growth, with 22 pounds, you’d be thinking 11 months,” he said, of the typical age of kids at that weight.
Serious cases of malnutrition can cause problems with brain development and intelligence that can be either short- or long-term, he said.
“That is not something we typically see in this country,” Stephens said.
Since Stephens did not treat the child and does not have specific medical information on him, he said it’s hard to know what the future might hold for the boy.
But in general, starving children are at risk for physical, developmental and emotional issues, he said.
Yet even if the boy now has some of these problems, “you don’t know what will happen when he gets calories and love,” Stephens said. “That’s what’s going to save him.”
Dr. Ben Danielson, director of the Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic in Seattle, said consistent, adequate nutrition is key for healthy brain development in children.
At age four, children need about 1,400 calories a day, he said.
Severe malnutrition affects every part of a child’s body, he said, starting with the skin, which can become rougher and have unusual pigmentation.
When trying to cope with malnutrition, the body is programmed to make preserving the brain a priority, Danielson said.
“If it has to, it will make sacrifices in other organs as long as it can,” he said. In addition, muscles don’t develop and bones can be weakened.
Such cases benefit from the care provided by a team of specialists at Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center in Seattle, where the boy has been hospitalized, he said.
They can oversee a child’s neurological, nutritional and psychological needs. Physical therapy may be needed to retrain muscles that have wasted away from malnutrition, Danielson said.
Even learning how to be a healthy eater takes some help and support, Danielson said.
Children who have been malnourished often may not eat enough, or overeat.
However, children can rebound fairly quickly, he said.
After treatment of the child’s specific physical and psychological needs, it’s possible the 4-year-old could recover in a month, Danielson said.
“A lot of times, recovery is pretty good, provided you have good monitoring, follow-up and support,” he said.
Reporter Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486 or salyer@heraldnet.com.
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