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A Treatment Package without Escape Extinction to Address Food Selectivity
Published on: August 21, 2015
Food choice of tactile defensive children
Annatjie M Smith1, Saartjie Roux, N T Raj Naidoo
1University of Port Elizabeth, Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
Insights
Children with tactile defensiveness (TD) exhibit significantly different eating habits, often refusing foods due to texture, smell, or temperature. Early evaluation for TD is crucial for addressing picky eating behaviors.
Area of Science:
- Occupational therapy
- Pediatric feeding disorders
- Sensory processing
Background:
- Picky eating is a common concern for parents and healthcare professionals.
- Tactile defensiveness (TD) is a sensory processing issue that may impact eating behaviors.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between tactile defensiveness and picky eating habits in children.
- To determine if children with TD exhibit distinct eating patterns compared to non-TD children.
Main Methods:
- A study involving 62 children aged 3-10 years, divided into a tactile defensive (TD) group (n=29) and a non-TD control group (n=33).
- Parental questionnaires on eating habits were administered during interviews.
- Children were screened for TD using a checklist and the Winnie Dunn Caregiver Profile questionnaire.
Main Results:
- Significant differences in eating habits and food choices were observed between TD and non-TD children.
- TD children displayed poorer appetites, reluctance towards unfamiliar foods, and food refusal based on smell and temperature.
- TD children showed aversions to specific food textures and consistencies, and difficulties eating vegetables, often gagging or biting their lips/cheeks.
Conclusions:
- Picky eating in children warrants broader evaluation beyond just feeding issues, considering underlying sensory processing challenges like tactile defensiveness.
- Tactile and oral defensiveness are treatable conditions.
- A multidisciplinary team approach involving various health professionals is recommended for managing these issues.
Objective:
We explored whether tactile defensive children have picky eating habits because fussy or picky eaters are a general problem to parents and different health professionals.
Methods:
Children (n = 62) of both sexes, ages 3 to 10 y, were assigned to an experimental tactile defensive (TD) group (n = 29) or a control non-TD group (n = 33). A questionnaire on eating habits was compiled and given to parents for completion during personal interviews (children were screened with a checklist and evaluated for tactile defensiveness with the Winnie Dunn Caregiver profile questionnaire).
Results:
This research confirmed that the eating habits and food choices of TD and non-TD children differ significantly. TD children had a fair to poor appetite. They hesitated to eat unfamiliar foods, did not eat other people's houses, and refused certain foods because of the smell and temperature. They also had a problem eating vegetables. They often gagged and/or bit their inner lips and cheeks. The results showed a definite difference in the limited selection of foods that TD children chose and a pronounced aversion toward textures or consistencies, smells, and temperatures of food as compared with integrated children.
Conclusions:
Fussy or picky eaters should evaluated more widely than to treat only the feeding problem. Tactile or oral defensiveness can be treated. This report underlines the team approach of health professionals.
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