Pediatric feeding disorders

Feeding problems occur in children who have normal development, who have failure to thrive, and who have developmental disabilities. This article focuses on the latter two groups. The characteristics and developmental concerns include family characteristics, parent-child interactions, cognitive development, and oral-motor development. The evaluation process for children with feeding problems should include an interdisciplinary approach with a medical, nutritional, occupational therapy, and behavioral evaluation. The behavioral treatments include the Premack principle, time-out plus reinforcement, and negative reinforcement. Future research should focus on the parent-child interaction process in both mealtime and nonmealtime situations, along with demonstrating parents' and teachers' ability to implement mealtime treatment protocols.