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NUTRITION

Feeding problems in infancy


and early childhood:
Identification and management
Debby Arts-Rodas RD, Diane Benoit MD FRCPC, Department of Psychiatry Research, The Hospital for Sick Children,
Toronto, Ontario

D Arts-Rodas, D Benoit. Feeding problems in infancy and early child- L’identification et la prise en charge des problèmes
hood: Identification and management. Paediatr Child Health d’alimentation pendant la première et la petite
1998;3(1):21-27.
enfance.
The purpose of this paper is to present a structured method to assess and RÉSUMÉ : Le présent article vise à présenter une méthode structurée
manage feeding problems in children under three years of age and a d’évaluation et de prise en charge des problèmes d’alimentation chez
newly developed instrument to assist in the assessment and monitoring of les enfants de moins de trois ans ainsi qu’un nouvel instrument
these feeding problems. Simple management strategies and practical sug- permettant de contribuer au bilan et à la surveillance de ces
gestions are described, derived from clinical experience and a pertinent problèmes d’alimentation. On y décrit des stratégies de prise en
review of the literature. Because feeding problems are so prevalent (af- charge simples et des suggestions pratiques tirées de l’expérience
fecting up to 35% of infants), the use of structured parent questionnaires, clinique et d’un examen pertinent de la documentation scientifique.
interviews and observation scales is important when assessing and manag- Puisque les problèmes d’alimentation sont très prévalents (ils
ing these problems. touchent jusqu’à 35 % des nourrissons), le recours à des
questionnaires structurés aux parents, à des entrevues et à des
Key Words: Feeding assessment, Feeding problems, Food aversion, Food échelles d’observation s’impose.
refusal, Infancy

F eeding problems are estimated to occur in up to 25%


of normally developing children (1) and in up to 35%
of children with neurodevelopmental disabilities (2). One
IDENTIFYING FEEDING PROBLEMS
Issues of definition and classification
The identification of feeding problems in infancy and
common definition of feeding problems is the inability or early childhood is no simple task because there is no uni-
refusal to eat certain foods (2,3). Problems with feeding versally accepted definition or classification system (6,9).
may lead to significant negative nutritional, developmen- Furthermore, feeding problems are heterogeneous in na-
tal and psychological sequelae (4-7). Because the severity ture as illustrated by the following list of symptoms of
of these sequelae is related to the age at onset, degree and young children with feeding problems: multiple food dis-
duration of the feeding problem (8), early recognition and likes (food selectivity, ‘pickiness’) (2); partial to total food
management are important. The purpose of this paper is refusal (10); difficulty sucking, swallowing or chewing (2);
to provide guidelines to identify feeding problems in the vomiting (10); colic (10); prolonged subsistence on inap-
first three years of life; to present a newly developed in- propriate textures (inability to graduate to textured foods)
strument to assess the presence of feeding problems and (2); delay in self-feeding (2); tantrums and other problem
monitor the effects of management; and to describe basic mealtime behaviours (2); rumination (9); and pica (9). In
management strategies that may eliminate or improve addition, etiological factors contributing to feeding prob-
feeding dysfunction. lems are often multifactorial and may interact to lead to

Correspondence and reprints: Ms Arts-Rodas, Department of Psychiatry Research, The Hospital for Sick Children, 555 University Avenue, Toronto,
Ontario M5G 1X8. Telephone 416-813-5232, fax 416-813-6565, e-mail debby.arts@mailhub.sickkids.on.ca

Paediatr Child Health Vol 3 No 1 January/February 1998 21


Arts-Rodas and Benoit

Child characteristics
Health problems
– Neurological deficits
– Anatomical/mechanical problems Other characteristics
of upper airway and GI tract Feeder-infant relationship
– Acquired/congential defects of larynx, – Caregiving environment
trachea, esophagus – Parenting skills
– Drug side effect – Other psychosocial factors
– Chronic illness
– Multiple food allergies
– Genetic and metabolic disorders
– Other
Developmental history
– Regulatory capacity
Feeding/growth history Feeding and/or
– Traumatic feeding experiences swallowing problems

Does the child have Is there a feeder-child


growth failure? Is the child safe to feed? relationship problem?

YES NO YES NO YES NO

High energy feeds Provide information Is the child able to eat – No oral feeds Refer to mental Provide support
and/or tube about nutritionally (anatomically and – Tube feeds health professional to feeder
feeding and developmentally developmentally)? – OT/SLP
appropriate diet intervention

YES NO

Is the child willing to eat? OT/SLP intervention


and/or tube feeding

YES NO

OT/SLP intervention and/or Basic management strategies


behaviour modification program (Table 2) and/or behaviour
modification program

Figure 1) Decision tree for assessment and management of feeding and/or swallowing problems. GI Gastrointestinal; OT Occupational therapist; SLP Speech
and language pathologist

the final clinical picture of a child with feeding and/or feeding (11). Simple questions such as “How often do you
swallowing problems (Figure 1). find your child is difficult to feed?” can help ‘quantify’ the
caregiver’s experience with the feeding problem. More
Clinical assessment open-ended questions, such as “How do you find your
Given that feeding problems in childhood are complex, child is doing with feeding?”, may provide additional in-
multifactorial and lack universally accepted definitions formation. Despite its usefulness in identifying the pres-
and classification systems, health professionals need to ence of some feeding problems, parental report may not
rely on clinical assessments to determine the presence of be the most reliable method to detect feeding problems.
such problems. A comprehensive clinical assessment, in- Parents may not be aware that their child has a feeding
cluding parental report (parents’ perceptions of mealtime problem (12). For instance, Linscheid (12) presented the
behaviours and nutrient intake), review of the child’s case of a mother who reported that her child was feeding
health and developmental, feeding and growth history, well, only to discover on further questioning that the child
and observation of a meal, may help to identify the pres- only ate in the bathtub. On the other hand, some parents
ence and severity of a feeding problem. may be so anxious about feeding their child that they per-
Parental report: An established part of child health su- ceive minor problems as major (6).
pervision includes asking caregivers about their child’s However, the monitoring of parents’ subjective experi-

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Feeding problems in infancy

ence of their child’s feeding may indicate problems with young children with swallowing dysfunction. These young
feeding. This monitoring can be facilitated by using in- children may have an inability to protect their airway dur-
struments such as the newly developed Infant Feeding Be- ing feeding, thus rendering oral feeding unsafe. Symp-
haviours – Parent checklist (Appendix 1). Using this toms of swallowing dysfunction may include history of
checklist, the parent is asked to rate 30 behaviours that recurrent pneumonias, respiratory illnesses, slow feed-
might be exhibited by their child at mealtimes on a five- ing, oral or nasal regurgitation, gagging, choking, or
point Likert-type scale. A high rating suggests that the be- coughing before and/or during the swallow. When swal-
haviour occurs almost always or that it is perceived as a lowing dysfunction is suspected, further clinical and labo-
significant problem. A total score is derived by adding ratory evaluation (4,14) is necessary to ensure a safe
parents’ ratings of each of the 30 items. The higher the to- swallowing mechanism.
tal score, the more severe the feeding problem is per- However, feeding problems are not encountered exclu-
ceived to be by the parent. A decrease or increase in the sively in children with health problems (Figure 1). For in-
total score over time may signal an improvement or dete- stance, problems with regulation of internal states (17),
rioration in the feeding problem (13). Nutrient intake rec- sensory integration, quality of caregiving and behavioural
ords or ‘food diaries’ may reveal information about mismanagement (eg, excessive parental anxiety at meal-
current feeding practices. The parent is asked to docu- times, forced feeding) may play an important role in the
ment prospectively all foods consumed by the child over a development of feeding problems in early childhood
three-day period. Alternatively, for the child who eats or (2,3,18). Quality of caregiving should be suspected as a
drinks only one or two items daily, 24 h recall may be suf- possible contributing factor to the feeding problem when
ficient. Analysis of three-day food diaries or 24 h recall the parent is angry with the child, is overwhelmed by the
can provide information about the types, textures and vol- feeding problems, has become indifferent towards the
umes of foods ingested, duration of the meal and meal- child (eg, has given up) or complains that the child’s feed-
time schedules. A detailed food diary may help to identify ing problems are affecting other family members and/or
children who are fed textures that are developmentally in- other areas of family life.
appropriate, for excessively long or short periods and ‘on An in-depth feeding history not only provides informa-
demand’ versus a structured schedule. tion about present feeding habits but also investigates
Review of health, and developmental, feeding and feeding patterns from birth. Benoit (19) developed a
growth history: A review of the child’s health history pro- Feeding History Questionnaire that is completed by the
vides information about medical conditions that may con- caregiver and may be useful clinically. The questionnaire
tribute to feeding and/or swallowing problems (Figure 1). inquires about progression to various textures, choking
For instance, feeding and/or swallowing problems may be and other traumatic incidents, pica, duration of meals,
associated with any combination of the following: neuro- feeding schedule, food intolerance, preferred foods and
logical deficits (eg, cerebral palsy); anatomical/mechani- textures, previous treatment of feeding problems, and
cal problems of the upper airway (eg, choanal atresia); family history of eating/feeding disorders.
acquired/congenital defects of the oral cavity, larynx, tra- A review of growth parameters – height and weight – is
chea and esophagus (eg, cleft palate, tracheoesophageal an essential part of any comprehensive assessment of
fistula); drug side effect (eg, chemotherapy); chronic ill- feeding problems because it can help to identify children
ness (eg, gastroesophageal reflux, cardiac and lung prob- with growth failure. A discussion of growth failure or fail-
lems); multiple food allergies; and genetic or metabolic ure to thrive is beyond the scope of this paper. However, it
disorders (eg, Down syndrome, phenylketonuria) (14). In is important to emphasize that there is no empirical evi-
addition, traumatically acquired conditioned dysphagia dence documenting the frequency of association between
(15) and post-traumatic feeding disorder (16) have been feeding problems and growth failure (9,20).
described as possible causes of persistent feeding prob- Mealtime observation: Observation should focus on
lems. Traumatically acquired conditioned dysphagia and child-feeder interactions, the child’s oral motor skills and
post-traumatic feeding disorder may result from repeated behaviours, the caregiver’s responses to adaptive and
exposure to noxious substances, experiences or proce- maladaptive feeding behaviours, and the feeding’s sur-
dures (eg, choking, vomiting, forced feeding, repeated suc- roundings. To guide and organize observations, struc-
tioning or insertion of tubes for feeding) in and around the tured instruments such as feeding interaction scales (21)
mouth. The prevalence of these types of feeding problems and child maladaptive feeding behaviour scales (Appen-
may be on the rise because advances in medical technol- dix 1) can be used. Table 1 provides some guidelines for
ogy enable more children with severe illnesses to survive. mealtime observations.
A comprehensive review of all health problems that may
contribute to feeding and/or swallowing difficulties is be- MANAGEMENT OF FEEDING PROBLEMS
yond the scope of this paper. Extensive lists of medical di- Many parents and health professionals fail to identify
agnoses associated with feeding problems may be found or underestimate the severity of feeding problems (12)
elsewhere (14). and often use a wait-and-see approach (3,22). Unfortu-
Furthermore, it is important to identify infants and nately, the wait-and-see approach may make treating

Paediatr Child Health Vol 3 No 1 January/February 1998 23


Arts-Rodas and Benoit

TABLE 1: Mealtime observation guidelines TABLE 2: Basic management strategies

A. General observations A. Physiological and environmental changes (for all ages)


1. Positioning of the child. Is the child positioned in a develop- 1. A structured mealtime schedule (eg, every 4 h) should be
mentally appropriate manner? provided. No food or drinks are permitted between scheduled
2. Surroundings. Are toys/distractions used to coax the child to meals. However, if the child is thirsty, water may be offered for
feed? Are the surroundings noisy (eg, loud music, television, up to 2 h before the next scheduled meal.
etc)? 2. Meals should be time limited, eg, 30 mins.
3. Types and amounts of food offered and consumed. Are they 3. The child should be fed in a quiet place with few distractions
developmentally appropriate? (eg, no loud radio or television, no toys).
4. How typical is the observed meal compared with meals at 4. The feeder should have a calm, positive attitude at mealtimes.
home? 5. The child should be positioned comfortably and in a develop-
B. Interactions between feeder and child mentally appropriate ‘seat’, ie, high chair, if the child is able to
1. How does the feeder offer the food? Is the child coaxed, dis- sit independently.
tracted, entertained to eat? Is the feeder angry, intrusive, anx- 6. A limited number of feeders (ideally one person) should feed
ious, unavailable for interaction, too laid back? Is the child the child.
given the opportunity to self-feed if age appropriate? Is the B. ‘Food rules’ (for children with self-feeding skills) (25)
food offered too quickly or too slowly? Is the child force fed? 1. The child should be encouraged to self-feed as much as
How does the feeder react to oppositional behaviours and/or possible.
adaptive eating behaviours?
2. Food should not be given as a present or reward (8).
2. Is the child defiant, provocative, compliant or passive in re-
3. Mealtime is not playtime. Games should not be used to coax
sponse to the feeder’s requests? Are oppositional behaviours
the child to feed (8).
(tantrums, pushing/throwing the food, etc) present?
4. Food should be removed after 10 to 15 mins if child seems to
C. Child’s behaviours at mealtime play with the food without eating.
1. The child’s willingness to accept food. Does the child try to 5. The meal should be terminated if the child throws food in
self-feed if age appropriate? How competent is the child at anger.
self-feeding? Does the child accept food willingly? Is the child
eating too fast/too slowly? Does the child eat enough? C. ‘Mealtime rules’ (for children with self-feeding skills) (11,22)
2. How is the food handled once inside the mouth? Is the food 1. Limits for the circumstances surrounding the ingestion of food
swallowed? Is there obvious nasopharyngeal reflux, poor suck, should be set. A set of mealtime rules should be set (eg, remain
coughing, gagging, vomiting, spitting, loss of food from the seated, use silverware not fingers, no throwing of food). The
sides of the mouth? Does the child hold food in the mouth for rules should be reasonable and based on the age of the child,
extended periods of time? starting with two to three rules and gradually adding a few
more rules until the child has learned appropriate mealtime
3. How does the meal end? Is the feeder or child frustrated or
behaviour.
calm and relaxed?
2. Mealtime rules should be explained without nagging before
each meal until the child is complying consistently.
3. Mealtimes should be pleasant; children should be included in
feeding problems more difficult for four major reasons. conversations. Mealtimes should be an opportunity to praise
appropriate behaviours. Children cannot be praised too often.
First, mealtimes with young children who have feeding
Nagging the child to hurry should be avoided.
problems are often very frustrating and anxiety-
4. If mealtime rules are broken, the child should practise correct
provoking for the child, the feeder and the entire family behaviours. The third time that the rules are broken, the child
(6). The longer these mealtime conflicts persist, the more should be disciplined with a time-out.
resistant they become to change (3,19). Second, the de- 5. Small portions of foods should be offered. The child should be
layed introduction of developmentally appropriate foods praised for eating the amount provided. The amount of food
at critical or sensitive periods may interfere with the ex- required to receive praise should be gradually increased.
pected progression of oral motor skills (5). Third, persis- 6. When mealtime is up, plates should be removed from the ta-
ble regardless of whether the child is finished. If the child has
tent feeding problems may lead to nutritional deficiencies
not finished the meal, the food should be removed without
that may be severe enough to warrant supplemental tube lectures or condemnation for not eating. If the child has not
feeding (7). Fourth, children with unidentified swallowing finished the meal, no dessert or snacks should be offered until
dysfunction may develop chronic lung disease or die as a the next meal. If the child continues to whine and ask for
result of aspiration pneumonia (14). Early identification snacks, a time-out is required. Parents should not ‘give in’ and
allow the child to eat snacks, this will only make the teaching
and management may prevent these problems (11,22).
process much longer.
A comprehensive clinical assessment should provide
the information needed to develop the most appropriate
management plan. When underlying health problems are
identified as the major contributors to the child’s feeding In addition to treating the underlying health problems,
problems, they should be managed accordingly. A de- three main questions should be addressed simultane-
tailed discussion of the medical and/or surgical manage- ously when developing a management plan: Does the
ment of all health problems associated with feeding child have growth failure? Is the child safe to feed (and if
problems is beyond the scope of this paper. so is the child able to eat? and is the child willing to

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Feeding problems in infancy

eat?)? Is there a feeder-child relationship problem? (Fig- CONCLUSION


ure 1). The answers to these questions should direct in- Although feeding problems are estimated to affect one
tervention strategies. For instance, infants and children in three to four infants and young children, there are no
who demonstrate significant growth failure and/or inabil- universally accepted methods of management. This may
ity to protect their airway during feeding may require sup- reflect, in part, the heterogeneity of feeding problems and
plemental tube feeding to achieve nutritional rehabilita- the lack of a unifying classification system. Yet the early
tion and/or prevent pulmonary aspiration. In addition to recognition of feeding problems is important because it
tube feeding, infants who are unable to swallow safely may prevent simple feeding problems from becoming
may require an oral stimulation program (if considered pervasive or resistant to treatment (11,22). In this paper,
safe) in an attempt to prevent oral hypersensitivity a systematic approach to the assessment and manage-
(4,7,14). ment of feeding problems is proposed based on clinical
Infants who are able to swallow safely but are unable experience and findings from the literature.
to eat, such as a child with cerebral palsy, may be willing The use of parent questionnaires and observational
to accept food placed in the mouth but may not have the rating scales, in addition to a structured clinical inter-
motor ability to place the food in the mouth him- or her- view, is important when assessing infants and young chil-
self, chew and move the bolus efficiently. Children with dren with feeding problems. Indeed, such instruments
these types of feeding problems may benefit from occupa- provide clinicians and researchers alike with structured
tional therapy or speech-language pathology interven- ways to collect information, to compare individual chil-
tions. These interventions focus on oral motor skills (eg, dren and larger groups, to identify the presence of feeding
increasing strength and range of motion of oral motor problems, to ‘quantify’ the severity of the feeding prob-
structures, preventing hypersensitivity, promoting lems, and to measure the effectiveness of treatment. The
proper positioning, bolus modification) while encourag- failure to use structured assessment protocols and tools
ing positive parent-child interactions (2,4,7,14). that permit comparison of subjects across studies has
Infants and young children who are able to swallow but greatly impeded research in the field (9). An important fo-
are unwilling to eat may turn the head away and refuse to cus of future research is the validation of instruments
open the mouth when the food is offered, may spit the such as the Infant Feeding Behaviours – Parent and Rater
food out or hold it in the mouth for extended periods. checklists, the Feeding History Questionnaire, and other
Children who are unwilling to eat may benefit from be- parent questionnaires and observational measures that
haviour modification programs. Behaviour modification help to structure assessment and treatment protocols of
techniques have been reviewed elsewhere (3,12,14). young children with feeding problems.
These interventions focus on increasing the frequency of Poor outcomes associated with feeding problems early
adaptive behaviours (ie, appropriate feeding behaviours) in life have been documented, including detrimental ef-
and decreasing the frequency of maladaptive behaviours fects on family life (6) and behavioural problems (3,23)
(Appendix 1). The basic management strategies de- and eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and buli-
scribed in Table 2 are examples of simple and generic be- mia (24). These serious short term and long term se-
haviour modification techniques that may be used indi- quelae emphasize the importance to treat feeding prob-
vidually or in conjunction with other more specific and lems early. The question of when interventions such as
refined techniques. behaviour therapy, multidisciplinary approach nutrition
When problems between the parent and child are sus- counselling and occupational therapy should be used to
pected, referral to a mental health professional should be treat young children’s feeding problems needs to be ex-
made for further assessment and treatment. If it is deter- amined formally. More research is clearly needed to un-
mined that no parent-child relationship problem exists, derstand which single or combined treatment methods
support for parents should be provided. are the best to treat which feeding problems.
Because feeding problems are complex and multifac-
torial in nature it is often necessary to have several disci- REFERENCES
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Ekvall S, eds. Pediatric Nutrition in Developmental Disorders.
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Arts-Rodas and Benoit

Infant feeding behaviours (Parent) - 3.1 (Benoit, 1994)


Date: _____/____/___ ID:_________
Month/ Day /Year
How often is your child hard to feed? (please check only one answer)
_____1. less than 25% of the time _____2. between 25% and 50% of the time
_____3. between 51% and 75% of the time _____4. more than 75% of the time

Below is a list of things that babies and young children sometimes do at meal times. Please use the rating scale to help you choose how often
you think your child does these things. Put your answer in the blank space.
For example: If you answer “occasionally” to question 1: “turn head away from food/shake head no”, then write 2 in the blank space.
0 1 2 3 4 5
Never Rarely Occasionally Frequently Very frequently Almost always
How often does your child
1. Turn head away from food/shake head no ___________
2. Refuse to open mouth/delay in opening mouth ___________
3. Cover mouth (eg, with hands, arms, object) ___________
4. Push food away (including offering food to feeder or giving spoon/glass back without emptying) ___________
5. Throw food/utensils away ___________
6. “Hide” chin in shoulder, chest ___________
7. Arch back ___________
8. Squirm/turn entire body on chair (even if eating) ___________
9. Touch food with lips/tongue but does not eat ___________
10. Bite on spoon/nipple ___________
11. Remove food from mouth with fingers/wipe food away from lips ___________
12. “Bunch” tongue at the back of mouth ___________
13. Not chew/suck/move food in mouth (more than 5 s)/passively refuse to swallow ___________
14. Chew/suck on food but does not swallow ___________
15. Swallow in “gulps” ___________
16. Use tongue thrusting (or push food out with tongue)/spit ___________
17. Gag/retch/cough ___________
18. Vomit ___________
19. Cry/fuss/whine/tantrum/appear angry ___________
20. Appear “tired”/fall asleep (“pretend” or not) ___________
21. Appear disinterested/unmotivated to eat/not hungry ___________
22. Appear frightened/panicky/tense ___________
23. Appear distracted from eating (by toys, food, etc) ___________
24. Appear distracted while eating (by toys, soother, food, etc) ___________
25. Get out of chair/wander/stand ___________
Does your child Yes No
26. Cry/cough/gag at the sight of food/bottle q q
27. Eat with a slow pace q q
28. Sit comfortably and appropriately (ie, given developmental age) to promote good eating q q
29. Take only a small amount of food q q
30. Show other maladaptive behaviours q q
If yes, describe ________________________________________________________________________________________________

Appendix 1) Parental report of problem feeding behaviours

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1993:317-31. in Infants and Children. San Diego: Singular Publishing, 1994.
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Acta Paediatr 1986;75:370-9. conditioned dysphagia in children. Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol
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