The Nutritional Parameters in Children with Delays in Speech

Objective: This study aimed to examine and compare the data on nutritional parameters in children with specific language impairments. Methods: Children under 5 years of age who presented to the outpatient clinic with isolated speech delay and were diagnosed with a specific language disorder, along with a healthy control group, were evaluated. The hemoglobin, iron, vitamin B12, and vitamin D levels of the patients were recorded after normal values and deficiency limits were determined for each age group. Results: Of the 188 children, 94 were in the control group and 94 were in the patient group. The control group was the same age and gender as the patients. Seventy-one (75.5%) of the patients were male and 23 (24.5%) were female. The mean age was 2.70 ± 0.65; the median age was 2.66 (min-max: 1.50-3.92) years. The mean serum iron levels in the patient group (67.95 ± 41.86 μg/dL) were significantly lower than in the control group (81.59 ± 37.34 μg/dL) (P = .008). B12 deficiency was significantly higher in the patient group (30%) than in the control group (16%) (P = .037). Other nutritional parameters of the patient and control groups were similar Conclusion: Low iron levels and vitamin B12 deficiency may be effective factors in speech delay. It is impor- tant to the nutritional parameters for speech delay and to treat vitamin deficiencies if present.