Feeding problems in an affluent society. Follow‐up at four years of age in children with early refusal to eat

Abstract

Twenty-four children, previously investigated at 3-12 months of age for refusal to eat during at least four weeks with no apparent medical cause, were followed up prospectively and reinvestigated at four years of age. Comparisons were made with 38 controls, selected from the same child health care districts. Information was obtained from parental interviews, medical records and assessments by a speech therapist. At four years of age, 17 of the 24 children with early refusal to eat (71%) were reported by the parents to still have feeding problems and 10 (42%) were reported as hyperactive. Compared to the controls, the children with early refusal to eat seemed to have an equally good prognosis with respect to health, growth and development, but were at risk of later problems with their eating patterns and behaviour.

Prevalence and predictors of later feeding disorders in children who underwent neonatal cardiac surgery for congenital heart disease

“…In most patients with feeding disorders, it is typically a combination of different factors that gives rise to the disorder. [5][6][7][8][9][10][11] Although some children start with a purely organic problem, that is, constitutional, many will subsequently manifest a mixture of organic and non-organic components (influenced by their environment and learning processes). 12 Recent advances in cardiac surgery techniques and progress in the pre-and post-operative care of newborns have substantially improved the survival of infants with congenital heart defects.…”

“…In most patients with feeding disorders, it is typically a combination of different factors that gives rise to the disorder. [5][6][7][8][9][10][11] Although some children start with a purely organic problem, that is, constitutional, many …”

Screening Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) in children: Outcomes from utilitarian versus specialist psychometrics

“…The first potential interpretation was that the frequency of the refusing food exists to the same level in the community, but some parents report that it is not a problem. The reason they do not report it as a problem could be because they share similar traits and dietary variety as their child (Galloway et al, 2003), have a higher self-efficacy in their parenting skills (Campbell et al, 2010), or perceive the frequency of the problematic mealtime behaviour as transient (Dahl & Sundelin, 1992;Dahl et al, 1994) or some other unidentified factor relating to parental engagement or responsibility. Further research into this perception is merited to form definitive conclusions concerning predictors of the child's behaviour and/or parental perceptions of food avoidance as a problem.…”

“…In most cases, children in the food neophobic phase go on to accept the foods that they become familiar with through repeat exposure (Wardle et al, 2003;Williams et al, 2008). In contrast, food avoidance in children with ARFID is generally stable and more consistently includes refusal of both novel and familiar foods (e.g., Dahl & Sundelin, 1992;Schmid et al, 2010;Wolke et al, 2009). ARFID results in a diet that is low in calories and/or does not contain sufficient micronutrients to maintain growth or health.…”

Hospitalization Can Correct Behavioral Feeding Disorders in Children by Resetting the Pedagogic Climate

“…Not only because of the fact that it is a very unpleasant condition for the child and his/her family, but also because the feeding problems can persist for 4 -6 years [10] [11] and that it is believed [12] [13] that childhood feeding disorders are related to (symptoms of) adolescent and adult eating disorders. It can also have influence on the development of behavioral problems [14]- [16] and cognitive development [17].…”