Background: Obstetrical complications, based on parental recall, have been reported to be associated with development of anorexia nervosa. We used prospectively collected data about pregnancy and perinatal factors to examine the subsequent development of anorexia nervosa.

This study was undertaken to characterize the current feeding situation and nutritional status of moderately or severely disabled children with cerebral palsy (CP). Thirty-five children with CP (17 with diplegia, 11 with dystonia, 6 with tetraplegia and one child with ataxia) were investigated at a median age of 8 years. Information was obtained from parental interviews, medical records and clinical and anthropometric examinations. Twenty-one of the 35 children (60%), most of whom were severely disabled, were reported by the parents to have current feeding problems. Anthropometric indicators of undernutrition were found in 15 children (43%) and of overnutrition in 3 children (9%), compared with reference values of healthy children. Severely disabled children in the youngest age group were most at risk for poor nutritional status. Early identification of children at nutritional risk requires regular assessments of feeding skills and nutritional status.

The aim of this study was to analyse early feeding problems. Fifty infants, between the ages of 3 and 12 months, were reported by the Child Health Centre (CHC) nurse and the parents to have some form of feeding problem, which had been present for at least one month. Data were collected by a visit to the infant's home, from medical records and by interviewing the CHC nurse. Three main problem categories were distinguished: Refusal to eat (28 infants), colic (9 infants) and vomiting (8 infants). The problems had often begun at an early age and had persisted for a long time (mean age at onset 4.3 months, mean duration 4.5 months). Eight of the infants had significant medical disorders, which in seven of them explained the feeding problems. In 23 infants the weight increase had been poor since the commencement of the problems. The CHC nurses considered most of the problems troublesome, difficult to treat and uncommon.

Twenty-four children, previously investigated at 3-12 months of age for refusal to eat during at least four weeks with no apparent medical cause, were followed up prospectively and reinvestigated at four years of age. Comparisons were made with 38 controls, selected from the same child health care districts. Information was obtained from parental interviews, medical records and assessments by a speech therapist. At four years of age, 17 of the 24 children with early refusal to eat (71%) were reported by the parents to still have feeding problems and 10 (42%) were reported as hyperactive. Compared to the controls, the children with early refusal to eat seemed to have an equally good prognosis with respect to health, growth and development, but were at risk of later problems with their eating patterns and behaviour.