Association between picky eating behaviors and growth in preschool children

Abstract

This study was conducted in order to investigate the association between picky eating behaviors of preschool children and growth outcomes. In this study, picky eating behaviors were defined as containing four constructs of 'eating a small amount (ES),' 'neophoic behavior (NB),' 'refusal of specific food groups (RF),' and 'preference for specific foodpreparation methods (PP).' A 7-point scale was used for the multi-item questionnaire, which consisted of 21 items (three items for ES, two items for NB, nine items for RF, and seven items for PP), in order to evaluate picky eating behaviors of children. Subjects were recruited among visitors at a medical clinic in Seoul. A total of 150 self-administered survey responses from parents of preschool children were analyzed in order to investigate the association between picky eating behaviors of preschool children and growth outcomes. Height for age (HFA) and weight for height (WFH) z-scores were used for assessment of preschool children's growth. The prevalence of ES, NB, RF, and PP was 44%, 57%, 73%, and 53%, respectively. Children with ES had lower HFA (p ＜ 0.05) and WFH (p ＜ 0.0001) than those without ES, while children with NB, RF, or PP had HFA and WFH were similar to their counterparts. The mean HFA z-score of children with ES was less than 0 (p ＜ 0.05) and the mean WFH z-scores of children with ES, NB, RF, or PP were less than 0 (p ＜ 0.05). According to the study results, related growth outcome differed depending on constructs of picky eating behaviors. In particular, picky eating of ES showed a risk of faltering height growth in preschool children. • In general, at the end of the meal how often has your child eaten the amount you think he/she should eat?3)• How often do you attempt to persuade your child to eat a food?• Does your child have a good appetite?3) Limited varietyNeophobic behavior 2)• How willing is your child to enjoy new and unfamiliar food when offered?3)• How often does your child try new and unfamiliar foods at home?3)Refusal of specific food groups • How often does your child refuse following foods?-Meats, fishes, shrimp, shells, vegetables, mushrooms, seaweeds, fruits, milkPreference for specific foodpreparation method• Does your child eat any of following foods only if prepared a specific way?-Meats, fishes, shrimp, shells, vegetables, mushrooms, seaweeds 1) Cronbach's coefficient α is 0.88 2) Cronbach's coefficient α is 0.79 3) Negatively worded questions were reverse scored

Association between Picky Eating Behaviors and Nutritional Status in Early Childhood: Performance of a Picky Eating Behavior Questionnaire

“…“Eating small amounts” refers to consuming insufficient food, and “limited variety” includes “neophobic behavior”, which refers to avoiding new foods and a “refusal of specific food groups” as well as a “preference for a specific preparation method”, which refers to children’s likes and dislikes of specific foods and certain recipes for each food [19,23]. While children show more than one construct behavior simultaneously and the classification of children overlapped, this approach could find a specific association between children’s eating behaviors and diet and growth.…”

“…Two recent studies have tried to present a clear definition of picky eating, and have characterized children’s picky eating behaviors with two attributes based on previously-reported aspects of picky eating behaviors: eating small amounts of food, and eating a limited variety of foods [ 19 , 23 ]. In the studies, “limited variety” consisted of three sub-constructs of “unwillingness to try new food”, “rejection of specific food groups” (i.e., fruits, vegetables, meats, and fish), and “preference for specific food preparation methods”.…”

Menu Recommendation System Using Smart Plates for Well-balanced Diet Habits of Young Children

“…Most countries, including Sweden [9], specify RDAs of carbohydrate, protein, and fat for young children in their nutrition recommendation. In Korea, carbohydrates are staple foods, so management of fat and protein intake for young children is a major concern [4,6,7,20,21]. Especially, menus related to protein and fat are interrelated, so clustering is possible.…”

“…Shim et al [4] conducted the study to investigate the association between picky eating behaviors of preschool children and growth outcomes. ey de ned picky eating behaviors as the four constructs: eating a small amount (ES), neophobic behavior (NB), refusal of speci c food groups (RF), and preference for speci c food preparation methods (PP).…”

Effects of multiple herb formula SEC-22 supplementation on dietary intake, picky eating behaviors, and growth indices in thin preschool children

“…Talley [ 13 ] and Tack [ 14 ] showed that early satiety is associated with a lower BMI. Picky eating is a possible risk factor for thinness or underweight status [ 15 16 ]. Children with eating problems may gain less weight, and children with picky eating behaviors may be at increased risk of being underweight.…”