Complementary and Alternative Therapy for Picky Eater: Systematic Review

Abstract

The picky eater problem is one of the beginnings of toddler stunting. This problem needs to be solved with scientifically proven interven- tions. This systematic review is focused on looking at complementary and alternative interventions that are scientifically proven to be ef- fective in treating picky eaters. This study aims to identify, evaluate, and summarize the findings of all relevant literature on complemen- tary & alternative therapies for picky eaters in children (1-6 years). Search for articles on PubMed, ProQUestProQuest, Google Scholar, and Crossref search engines related to literature from 2012-2022. Inclusion criteria were original research articles that examined an intervention on picky eating in children with complementary & alter- native therapeutic approaches. Quantitative, experimental research published in English and Indonesian with child participants with picky eater problems. The data were studied and analyzed with qualitative and narrative methods. There are a few articles (10 items) that re- view the effectiveness of an intervention to treat nutritional problems and the symptoms of picky eaters. Interventions with complementary approaches and alternative therapies were found to be very few. Most of them are in the form of conventional interventions such as health education, oral supplementation, counselling, and interventions with similar approaches. Several interventions are given in combination. There is an intervention for handling picky eaters given to respon- dents who have nutritional problems accompanied by other diseases. There is an insufficient number of scientific articles found related to interventions for picky eaters with complementary approaches and alternative therapies, therefore scientific evidence with research and publications is still a big opportunity and is very much needed in the future.