Abstract
Introduction: Problematic feeding in infancy is a clinical problem that requires professional assessment The PediEAT instrument assesses four dimensions of feeding (physiological symptoms, problematic feeding behaviours, selective or restrictive feeding and oral processing).
Objective: To analyse the presence of problematic feeding symptoms in children aged 6 months to 7 years with disabilities and typical development in Argentina.
Material and Methods: Observational and cross-sectional study. Sequential sampling by means of a digital questionnaire answered by caregivers. The ques- tionnaire was the PediEAT Argentinean version, cross-culturally adapted and validated in a previous stage. Children aged 6 months to 7 years were included, caregivers had to be over 18 years old, have internet access, and children who did not consume solid food were excluded. PediEAT problem feeding was compared between the typically developing and children with disabilities. Categorical variables were assessed with Fisher’s test and continuous variables with t-test or Mann-Whitney test as appropriate (p < 0.05).
Results: 310 cases were included. 41 children presented disability, most of them with intellectual disability. No differences were observed between nutritional status and age groups. Children with disabilities had 39% ([24.2-55.5], n = 16) problematic feeding, while for typi- cally developing children it was 18.2% ([13.8-23.3], n = 49), p = 0.006. Children with disabilities were found to have a higher proportion of physiological symptoms (p = 0.005), problematic feeding be- haviors’ (p = 0.045), selective/restrictive feeding (p = 0.019) and oral processing (p = 0.0001), compared to their peers.
Conclusions: Feeding in children with disabilities presents greater challenges for caregivers. Beyond physiological difficulties conditioned by disability, feeding problems are observed in other dimensions such as behaviors, selective/restrictive feeding and oral processing.
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