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Tongue movements in 4- and 5-year-old Down's syndrome children during eating: a comparison with normal children
Insights
Children with Down syndrome exhibit distinct tongue movements during eating, showing forward tongue placement and a lack of typical age-related changes compared to their peers. This research aids in developing eating assessments for children.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric feeding and swallowing disorders
- Developmental disabilities research
- Speech-language pathology
Background:
- Children with Down syndrome often experience feeding difficulties.
- Understanding oral-motor skills is crucial for developing effective interventions.
- This study builds upon previous research in pediatric eating assessments.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze and compare tongue movements in children with Down syndrome and typically developing children during eating.
- To identify characteristic tongue movement patterns in young children with Down syndrome.
- To contribute to the development of a standardized eating assessment tool for children.
Main Methods:
- Observational study involving 26 children (14 four-year-olds, 12 five-year-olds).
- Quantification of tongue positions during food presentation and swallowing.
- Comparison of tongue movements between Down syndrome children and age-matched controls.
Main Results:
- Tongue position during food presentation was influenced by age, gender, and food type.
- Tongue position during swallowing was affected by age and gender.
- Children with Down syndrome displayed a forward tongue placement and lacked typical maturational changes observed in controls.
Conclusions:
- Tongue movement patterns in young children with Down syndrome differ from those of typically developing children.
- These findings highlight specific oral-motor characteristics relevant to feeding in Down syndrome.
- The results support the ongoing development of specialized eating assessments for children with developmental disabilities.
Abstract:
This study describes tongue movements of 4- and 5-year-old Down's syndrome children during eating and then compares the movements to those of age-matched normal children. The study is the second in a long-term project to develop a standardized eating assessment for children. Tongue movements were monitored in 26 children: 14 were 4 years +/- 2 months (8 males, 6 females) and 12 were 5 years +/- 2 months (6 males, 6 females). Two different tongue positions were quantified: 1) as food was presented to the child when the food was 5 cm from the lips; and 2) as food was swallowed. The children's ages and gender along with the type of food affected tongue position on food presentation; however, only the children's ages and gender affected tongue position on swallowing. In general, most tongue positions of Down's syndrome children were characterized by 1) a forward placement of the tongue in the mouth, and 2) the absence of the maturational changes in normal children of the same age.