Introduction. Children with neurological disorders often present postural abnormalities and feeding dysfunction. However their masticatory muscles are rarely taken into consideration. Aim. The aim of the study was to measure the function of the masticatory system in children with neurodevelopmental disorders. Materials and method. We examined 19 children (average age 6.3 years old ± 1.4 years old) with neurodevelopmental disorders and feeding problems. Ethics approval was obtained from Bioethics Committee of Poznań University of Medical Sciences, Poland (339/15, date 9.04.2015). Motor development was assessed using Gross Motor Function Measure – 88. Feeding was assessed by Castillo-Morales questionnaire. Kasperczyk Visual‑Point Method was used to examine the body posture. Results: There was statistically significant correlation between drooling and too much tension of such muscles as: rectus capitis posterior minor (Chi2 Pearsona, p = 0.027) and temporal muscle (p = 0.04801). Patients more often ate liquid or semiliquid food rather than solid if their muscle was in contraction: masster muscle (p = 0.01766), sterno‑cleido mastoid (p = 0.046), scalene anterior (p = 0.04664), serratus anterior (p = 0.03470) trapezius p = 0.02688. There was statistically significant correlation between the ability to suck and swallow and hypertonus of sternocleidomastoid muscle (p = 0.032) and trapezius muscle (p = 0.01766). Conclusions. Neuromotor development and body posture are important in the effectiveness of feeding, its quantity and quality.

Key words: neurological disorders, sucking swallowing, masticatory system.