Treatment of Selective and Inadequate Food Intake in Children: A Review and Practical Guide

A Comparison of Descriptive and Functional Analyses of Inappropriate Mealtime Behavior

“…Although only 30 % of individuals with developmental disabilities (Palmer, Thompson, & Linscheid, 1975) are reported to have such feeding difficulties, prevalence among those with severe developmental disabilities has been reported to be as high as 80 % (Perske, Clifton, McClean, & Stein, 1977). Pediatric feeding disorders may occur for a number of reasons and may be related to medical concerns (e.g., gastroesophageal reflux); skill deficits or difficulties (e.g., difficulties swallowing or chewing); or due to a history of reinforcement of food refusal (Babbitt, et al, 1994;Bachmeyer, 2009;Piazza, 2008;Williams, Reigel, & Kerwin, 2009). In all likelihood, it may be a combination of these factors that results in the most severe of feeding problems (i.e., lack of sufficient intake to maintain good nutritional status).…”

“…It has been shown frequently that escape is the most common reinforcer for food refusal and that the most effective treatments typically include some component to prevent the child from avoiding the food presented (Bachmeyer, 2009;Cooper et al, 1995;Piazza, Patel, Gulotta, Sevin & Layer, 2003;Williams, Field, & Seiverling, 2010). In addition, even when other reinforcers such as attention and tangibles have been identified, the necessary component to an effective intervention has been shown to be escape extinction, suggesting that any positive reinforcers identified may augment the effects of treatment but may not be solely sufficient to increase food acceptance (Patel, Piazza, Martinez, Volkert, & Santana, 2002;Reed et al, 2004).…”

Evaluating the High-Probability Instructional Sequence to Increase the Acceptance of Foods with an Adolescent with Autism

“…That is, when the sole goal of the intervention is to target the stimulus properties of foods, antecedent interventions may be more likely to be successful in isolation. In this sense, antecedent interventions might be used to promote overall health and possibly prevent more serious problems from developing (Bachmeyer 2009;Seubert et al 2014).…”

“…Alternatives to EE are particularly needed in practice settings, where the implementation of EE may be difficult and possibly involve intermittent reinforcement of challenging behavior (Bachmeyer 2009). Moreover, the existing literature on the high-p sequence has not explored the extent to which parents and other caregivers can implement the high-p sequence with integrity and has focused on young children with feeding problems.…”

An Integrative Approach in Treating Complete Food Refusal in Children: a Case Study

“…Studies have reported that the prevalence of eating problems in general was found to be high among children with developmental disabilities, with rates ranging from as high as 35% (Bachmeyer, 2009). Findings from the studies revealed that, children who have been identified by the refusal of food have also been diagnosed with a developmental disability.…”