Feeding and nutrition in children with developmental disabilities

Feeding is a complex physiologic process that is further complicated by social and cultural influences. Feeding development, although dependent on structural integrity and neurologic maturation, is a learned progression of behaviors influenced by sensory motor development and experience. Children learn how to eat. Children with developmental disabilities frequently develop problems with feeding that can lead to malnutrition and respiratory symptoms. Feeding disorders are often the result of multiple interacting variables that have disrupted feeding development and the feeding relationship. The pediatrician who has a solid understanding of these variables can understand the problems, sort out the contributing causes, and intervene effectively.