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Use of parent report to screen for feeding difficulties in young children
Jeanne Marshall1, Madeline Raatz, Elizabeth C Ward
1Children's Nutrition Research Centre, Queensland Children's Medical Research Institute, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Insights
The Behavioral Pediatric Feeding Assessment Scale effectively identifies feeding difficulties in Australian children, showing high reliability and specificity for early screening. This tool helps distinguish between typical development and children needing further evaluation.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Health
- Child Nutrition
- Developmental Pediatrics
Background:
- Feeding difficulties are common in children and can impact development and family well-being.
- Standardized tools are needed to accurately assess and identify children with pediatric feeding disorders.
- International comparison of feeding assessment data is crucial for understanding population-specific needs.
Purpose of the Study:
- To collect and analyze data on Australian children's feeding difficulties using a standardized questionnaire.
- To compare Australian feeding data with international benchmarks.
- To evaluate the reliability, sensitivity, and specificity of the Behavioral Pediatric Feeding Assessment Scale (BPFAS) in an Australian context.
Main Methods:
- Parents of children aged 2-6 years completed the Behavioral Pediatric Feeding Assessment Scale (BPFAS).
- Data were collected from 54 typically developing children and 81 children with feeding difficulties.
- Short-term reliability was assessed over a 2-week period.
Main Results:
- The Australian sample's performance on the BPFAS was comparable to normative data from Canada and the UK.
- The BPFAS demonstrated high reliability over a 2-week period and high specificity in detecting feeding difficulties.
- Significant differences were found between typically developing children and those with feeding difficulties in mealtime behaviors (P < 0.01).
Conclusions:
- The Behavioral Pediatric Feeding Assessment Scale (BPFAS) is a valid and reliable tool for identifying feeding difficulties in Australian children.
- Its ease of administration and high psychometric properties make it a valuable screening tool for pediatricians.
- Children with numerous feeding problems identified by the BPFAS warrant further multidisciplinary assessment and intervention.
Aims:
This study aimed to collect data on Australian children with regard to feeding difficulties using a standardised questionnaire, compare these data to international data collected using the same tool, assess the short-term reliability of this tool and determine the sensitivity and specificity of this tool in detecting feeding difficulties.
Methods:
Parents completed the Behavioral Pediatric Feeding Assessment Scale. Data on 54 typically developing children and 81 children with feeding difficulties aged 2-6 years are presented.
Results:
Our Australian sample performed comparably to normative data from Canada and the UK. Reliable results were demonstrated over a 2-week period, and the scale was shown to have high specificity. There was a significant difference between typically developing children and children with feeding difficulties in frequency of undesirable mealtime behaviours (P < 0.01) and the number of behaviours reported as a problem by parents using this tool (P < 0.01).
Conclusions:
This study confirmed that the Behavioral Pediatric Feeding Assessment Scale is a valid tool for identifying Australian children with feeding difficulties. Given that it is simple to administer and has a high reliability and specificity, it is suggested as a useful screening tool for physicians working with young children. Data collected using this tool found that typically developing children display few undesirable feeding behaviours, and few behaviours are perceived as problems by parents. Therefore, any child presenting with a large number of feeding problems on this parent-reported measure should be referred for further multidisciplinary evaluation and treatment as required.
