**5.2. Nutritional support**

It is well established that children and adolescents with cancer experience malnutrition due to their underlying malignancy and treatment-related factors. Diminished nutritional status contributes in poor wound healing, increased infection risk, and decreased tolerance to chemotherapy. It is established that poor nutrition affects the QoL, response to treatment, and overall cost of care. This may be attributed to their limited energy stores and increased nutritional requirements to attain their appropriate growth and neurodevelopment [57–58].

Nutritional strategies should be integrated as a fundamental feature of supportive care for all pediatric neuro-oncology patients. The goals of nutritional supportive care include the maintenance of body stores, minimization of weight loss, promotion of appropriate growth, and providing excellent QoL [58].
