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How much do preverbal children signal a wish to be fed? Nested case control study comparing weight faltering and

Charlotte M Wright1, Lauren Corlett2, Patrick Hughes1

  • 1PEACH Unit, Department of Child Health, School of Medicine, University of Glasgow Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Dalnair Street, Glasgow, G£ 8SJ, UK.

Appetite
|November 20, 2022
PubMed

Insights

Infants often show disengaged non-verbal cues during meals but still eat. This study developed a tool to assess infant feeding cues and found no differences between healthy infants and those with weight faltering (WF).

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Nutrition
  • Infant Development
  • Observational Methods

Background:

  • Understanding infant feeding behaviors is crucial for addressing growth concerns.
  • Non-verbal cues play a significant role in infant-parent communication during meals.
  • Weight faltering (WF) in infants requires effective assessment tools.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To develop and validate an observational tool for rating infant non-verbal feeding cues.
  • To compare feeding cue differences between healthy infants and those with weight faltering (WF).
  • To evaluate the predictive value of these cues on food intake.

Main Methods:

  • A case-control study using video recordings of infants (WF and healthy controls) consuming a standardized meal.
  • Development of a scale to rate infant non-verbal cues (head, eyes, hands, mouth) as 'engaged' or 'disengaged'.
  • Assessment of inter-rater and test-re-test reliability of the observational scale.

Main Results:

  • Reliability measures for the observational scale ranged from 0.67 to 0.89.
  • A majority of observed interactions (73%) showed disengaged cues, while 48% showed engaged cues.
  • Food was consumed after 67% of all interactions, with no significant difference between healthy infants and those with WF, even when cues indicated disengagement.

Conclusions:

  • Infants frequently exhibit disengaged non-verbal cues during meals but generally accept offered food.
  • The developed observational tool demonstrated acceptable reliability for assessing infant feeding cues.
  • No significant differences in feeding cue patterns or food acceptance were found between infants with weight faltering and healthy controls.

Keywords:
Eating behaviourFood refusalMother child-interactionWeight faltering

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