PD706 - TASTE ALTERATIONS WORSEN, BUT DO NOT DRIVE NUTRITIONAL RISK IN CHILDREN WITH SOLID TUMORS

PD706

TASTE ALTERATIONS WORSEN, BUT DO NOT DRIVE NUTRITIONAL RISK IN CHILDREN WITH SOLID TUMORS

P. E. Mısırlıoğlu^1,*, B. Köse², D. Hopancı Bıçaklı³, E. Ataseven⁴, Z. Önder Siviş⁵, S. Gözmen⁶, M. Kantar⁴

¹Nutrition and Dietetics, Avrasya University, Trabzon, ²Nutrition and Dietetics, Başkent University, Ankara, ³Nutrition and Dietetics, Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University, Muğla, ⁴Department of Pediatric Oncology, Ege University, ⁵ Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, İzmir City Hospital, ⁶ Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Katip Çelebi University, İzmir, Türkiye

Rationale: Children undergoing cancer treatment often experience reduced dietary intake and increased nutritional risk. Taste alterations and gastrointestinal symptoms are common and are frequently assumed to impair intake; however, their independent contribution remains unclear. This study investigated longitudinal changes in dietary intake and nutritional risk and examined the role of taste alterations in children with solid tumors.

Methods: This prospective study included 60 children (8–18 years) with solid tumors. Assessments were conducted at baseline (T1), 2 months (T2), and 4 months (T3). Dietary intake was assessed using 3-day food records. Nutritional risk was evaluated using SCAN. Taste alterations were assessed using KAÇ-TADÖ (subjective) and PROP test (objective). Changes were analyzed using non-parametric methods.

Results: Energy intake adequacy declined over time (22% to 17.5%, p=0.001). Carbohydrate, fat and fiber intake decreased. Inadequate dietary intake increased from 30% to 53.3%, weight loss from 36.7% to 55.0%, and gastrointestinal symptoms from 23.3% to 35.0%. Taste alterations worsened, with the inability to perceive taste increasing from 27.5% to 36.7%. More than 80% of children were at nutritional risk at all time points.

Nutritional risk was associated with taste alterations and gastrointestinal symptoms (p<0.05); however, this relationship was not independent. Lower body weight, mid-upper arm circumference and younger age were identified as key determinants of higher nutritional risk.

Conclusion: Despite worsening taste alterations, nutritional risk remains persistently high and is not independently driven by taste changes. Instead, anthropometric factors appear to play a central role, highlighting the need for early and comprehensive nutritional assessment in pediatric oncology.

Disclosure of Interest: None declared