Feeding difficulties in preschool children at an early childhood education school

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15343/0104-7809.202448e15292023P

Keywords:

Eating Behavior, Food Selectivity, Preschool, Child Nutrition

Abstract

Feeding difficulties are any problem that negatively affects the process of parents or caregivers providing food or nutrients to the child. The objective of this work was to investigate eating difficulties in preschool children at a municipal early childhood education school in Uruguaiana/RS. The study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee and carried out between October and November 2022. All parents or guardians of children (n=70) who attended school, aged 4-5 years, were invited to participate in the research. Everyone received the Free and Informed Consent Form, as well as the research questionnaire. The instrument used was the Brazilian Infant Feeding Scale (EBAI), which has 14 questions regarding children's nutrition. Descriptive statistics were performed in terms of frequency and analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed for comparisons between sexes (p<0.05). 31 responses were obtained from parents regarding children's nutrition. The data revealed that 9.68% (n=3) had some degree of feeding difficulty, 3.33% (n=1) with a severe degree and 6.45% (n=2) with a moderate degree. The remaining children (n=28) also presented behaviors related to feeding difficulties, however, without enough scores to be classified as having feeding difficulties. The most frequently described behaviors were: the caregiver using distractions or going after the child to make them eat, feeding time around 31-60 minutes or more, child who nauseates, spits or vomits with some type of food and the negative influence of food in family relationships. Thus, a low percentage of feeding difficulties was observed in the studied population, in accordance with the literature studied.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Maranhão HS et al. Dificuldades alimentares em pré-escolares, práticas alimentares pregressas e estado nutricional. Revista Paulista de Pediatria, 2017; 36: 45-51.

Diniz PB, Fagondes SC, Ramsay M. Adaptação transcultural e validação da Montreal Children’s hospital feeding scale para o português falado no Brasil. Revista Paulista de Pediatria, 2021; 39: 2

Dubois L, Fazendeiro A, Girard M, Peterson K, Tatone-Tokuda,F. Problem eating behaviors related to social factors and body weight in preschool children: A longitudinal study. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 2007; 4: 1-10.

Barreto J. Classificação das dificuldades alimentares. In: Guia de orientações - Dificuldades alimentares/ Sociedade Brasileira de Pediatria. Departamento Científico de Nutrologia. 2022.

Petty ML, et al. Nutrição comportamental no atendimento de crianças e adolescentes. In: Nutrição comportamental. Editora Manole, 2015; 17: 443.

Siqueira BNF. Dificuldades alimentares entre pré-escolares e fatores associados. São Cristóvão. Programa de Pós-graduação em Ciências da Nutrição. Universidade Federal de Sergipe, 2018.

Nogueira ACA. Quais as possíveis complicações da criança que não come? Riscos de curto e longo prazos. In: Guia de orientações - Dificuldades alimentares/ Sociedade Brasileira de Pediatria. Departamento Científico de Nutrologia. 2022.

Pliner P. Development of measures of food neophobia in children. Appetite, 1994; 23:147-163.

Maier-nöth A, et al. The lasting influences of early food-related variety experience: a longitudinal study of vegetable acceptance from 5 months to 6 years in two populations. PloS one, 2016; 11: 3.

Howard AJ, et al. Toddlers’ food preferences. The impact of novel food exposure, maternal preferences and food neophobia. Appetite, 2012; 59: 3. 818-825.

Benjasuwantep B, Rattanamongkolgul S, Ramsay M. The Thai version of the montreal children’s hospital feeding scale (MCH-FS): psychometric properties. J Med Assoc Thai, 2015; 9: 2,163.

Bbik K, et al. The Polish version of the Montreal Children's Hospital Feeding Scale (MCH-FS): translation, cross-cultural adaptation, and validation. Pediatr Pol, 2019; 94: 299-305.

Van Dijk MWG, Buruma ME, Blijd-hoogewys EMA. Detecting Feeding Problems in Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2021; 1- 13.

Anglesea MM, Hoch H, Taylor BA. Reducing rapid eating in teenagers with autism: Use of a pager prompt. Journal of applied behavior analysis, 2008; 41:1:107-111.

Van dijk M, Lipke-steenbeek, W. Measuring feeding difficulties in toddlers with Down syndrome. Appetite, 2008;126: 61-65.

Ramsay M, et al. The Montreal Children's Hospital Feeding Scale: A brief bilingual screening tool for identifying feeding problems. Paediatrics & child health, 2011;16: 3: 147-17.

Maranhão HS, et al. Dificuldades alimentares em pré-escolares, práticas alimentares pregressas e estado nutricional. Revista Paulista de Pediatria, 2017;36: 45-51.

Kerzner B, Milano K, MacLean WC. Berall G: Stuart S: Chatoor I. A practical approach to classifying and managing feeding difficulties. Pediatrics. 2015; 135:344–53.

Sharp WG, Burrell TL, Jaquess DL. The autism MEAL plan: A parent-training curriculum to manage eating aversions and low intake among children with autism. Autism. 2013;18(6):712–722.

Siqueira BNF. Dificuldades alimentares entre préescolares e fatores associados. São Cristóvão. Programa de Pós-graduação em Ciências da Nutrição. Universidade Federal de Sergipe, 2018:13.

Dovey TM, Staples PA, Gibson EL, Halford, JCG. Food neophobia and “picky/fussy” eating in children: a review. Appetite. 2008. 50(2–3):181–93.

Van HK. Overcoming picky eating. Eating enjoyment as a central aspect of children’s eating behaviors. Appetite. 2012. 58(2): 567–74.

Galloway AT, Fiorito LM, Francis LA, Birch LL. “Finish your soup”: counterproductive effects of pressuring children to eat on intake and affect. Appetite. 2006;46(3):318–23.

Brasil. Ministério da Saúde. Guia alimentar para a população brasileira: promovendo a alimentação saudável. 2. ed., 1. reimpr. Brasília: ministério da saúde, 2014.

Melchior AF, et al. Análise comparativa das funções de deglutição e mastigação em crianças de 3 a 9 anos com autismo e com desenvolvimento típico. Distúrbios da Comunicação, 2019;31:4:585- 596.

Sociedade Brasileira de Pediatria. Manual de orientação: menos telas mais saúde. 2019.

Feitosa IC, Zanella PB. Impacto do consumo de alimentos em frente à televisão e sua relação com a obesidade infantil. Brazilian Journal of Health Review,2022; 5: 2404-2415.

Santos M. Escala de alimentação do Hospital pediátrico de Montreal: contributo para a validação do instrumento em Portugal Continental. Tese de Doutorado. 2016;48.

Kerzner B. Clinical investigation of feeding difficulties in young children: a practical approach. Clinical pediatrics. 2009. 48(9), 960- 965.

Fraker C et al. Food chaining: The proven 6-step plan to stop picky eating, solve feeding problems, and expand your child's diet. Da Capo Lifelong Books, 2009.

Foman SJ. Paying attention to your baby's appetite to avoid overfeeding or underfeeding: part 1. Establishing habits of eating in moderation. Pediatr Basis 1994; 69:8-11.

Manikam R, Perman, JA. Pediatric Feeding Disorders. Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology, 2000; 30(1): p 34-46.

Wardle J. Modificando as preferências alimentares das crianças: os efeitos da exposição e recompensa na aceitação de um vegetal desconhecido. Jornal europeu de nutrição clínica. 2003; 57:2 341-348.

Published

2024-02-07

How to Cite

Trivisiol, M. E., Santos, M. dos, Couto, S. de F., & Silveira, J. T. (2024). Feeding difficulties in preschool children at an early childhood education school. O Mundo Da Saúde, 48. https://doi.org/10.15343/0104-7809.202448e15292023P