EZ-chEW: A Pilot Study of a Parental Home Metric for Chewing Performance

Area of Science:

• Pediatric feeding and swallowing
• Child development
• Oromotor function

Background:

• Assessing pediatric oromotor function, particularly chewing, is crucial for development.
• Existing methods often require clinical settings, posing challenges for naturalistic data collection.
• Understanding the temporal aspects of chewing informs early intervention strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate the EZ-chEW, a parent-report tool for documenting temporal jaw performance during chewing in toddlers.
• To assess the feasibility of home-based data collection by parents for chewing characteristics.
• To examine age- and food consistency-related differences in chewing patterns.

Main Methods:

• The EZ-chEW questionnaire was developed based on literature review of chewing development.
• Sixty-seven toddlers participated longitudinally from 12 to 30 months.
• Parents collected data at home across various food consistencies, with data analyzed for chewing duration, cycles, and efficiency.

Main Results:

• Chewing duration and cycle count significantly varied by age and food consistency.
• More complex food consistencies required longer chewing durations and more cycles.
• Chewing efficiency remained stable with age but differed by food consistency.

Conclusions:

• Parental assessment via EZ-chEW is a feasible and valuable supplement to clinical evaluations.
• The tool captures naturalistic chewing behaviors in a home setting, reducing healthcare burden.
• EZ-chEW offers an accessible method for guiding tailored interventions for toddlers' chewing needs.