Exclusive Breast Feeding Affects the Behavior of Picky Eater in Preschool Children

Abstract

Introduction: Picky Eater is characterized by a little eating behavior, choosing the preferred food, reducing the amount of food, and being worried to try other foods. Objectives: The aim was to determine the factors associated with picky eater behavior in preschool children Methods: The design of the study was cross-sectional design. The sample obtained 132 mothers of preschool children with simple random sampling in South Sumatera. The Independent variables were interaction when eating, mother's eating behavior, complimentary food, history of exclusive breastfeeding, and birth weight while the dependent variable was picky eater behavior. Data were analyzed by chi-square and regression logistic. Results: The results were obtained that the history of exclusive breastfeeding (p=0.001; OR=3.149) was the most influential factor with picky eater behavior in preschool children. Interaction when eating, mother's eating behavior, and complimentary food were other factors that influenced picky eater behavior. Conclusions: Parents need to pay attention to the behavior of picky eaters in children seriously because the worst things disrupted growth and development in children due to lack of adequate nutritional intake. Parents can stimulate by making interesting food and teach to eat good food through direct examples because children will imitate what parents do.