Feeding Young Children Research Paper

Feeding young children is not always an easy task and many parents face resistance and difficulty when trying to provide their child a balanced diet. A picky eater is difficult to define, but it ultimately is “an unwillingness to eat familiar foods or to try new foods, severe enough to interfere with daily routines to an extent that is problematic to the parent, child, or parent-child relationship” (1). Nearly all children display aversions to certain foods at some point in their childhood but a child that is too picky can affect caloric and nutrient intake. A cohort study conducted found that 27.6% of children the age of 3 were picky eaters. It also found that nearly 46% of children were picky eaters at some point in their first 6 years

Failure to thrive is most prevalent in developing countries; however, in the United States minority, immigrant, or low-income status is an indicator of child eating behavior. FTT is a general term that refers to an infant or child whose current weight and weight gain are below the expected weight of a child of that age (3). It is a common problem and usually recognized in the first two years of life. The most common cause of FTT is linked to inadequate caloric intake, which is why nutritional support is one of the first interventions required to treat it. There are a wide variety of anthropometric criteria that are used to define FTT in a child. Complete physical examinations are required to find indications of FTT.A combination of anthropometric criteria should be used to increase accuracy of measurements to effectively identify growth and developmental abnormalities. Head circumference is an indicator of inadequate growth and is monitored closely at physical assessments, as it is a large indicator of nutritional issues (3). Weight for length is a commonly used indicator of undernutrition. It is an index of the stores of fat and is a way to define malnutrition in children. Anything below the 5th percentile is considered chronic malnutrition (3). In the United States, approximately 10% of children seen by a primary care physicians display signs of FTT. FTT has serious

Most children that are picky eaters refuse food that they have never seen before. In many cases, when parents pressure small children to eat, studies show that it has the opposite effect on children. Young children also tend to be neophobic, meaning they do not like new foods, which is often perceived as pickiness by parents (5). This behavior is most often seen in children ages 2-6. For some children, refusal to eat is an attention-seeking device, which indicates a difficult parent-child relationship. There is evidence that dysfunction in the home can cause kids appetites to lessen and aggravate picky eating habits. Pressure to eat, personality factors, and parental involvement in meal have similar affects on child eating behavior. These are only a few examples of the many reasons why children are picky eaters. As a result of the multitude of causes for picky eating behaviors, it is especially important for parents and physicians to isolate the cause and work together to find a way to modify