Modern patterns of eating behavior in children

Abstract

Background. Nowadays, increasingly greater attention is paid to the problem of nutrition as a key factor in influencing a child’s health and development. Eating disorders can be observed already in early childhood, from the newborn period. Purpose: to study the modern patterns of eating behavior in children taking into account the age aspect. Material and methods. One hundred and thirty-eight children aged 6 months to 12 years were examined. The examination was anonymous and involved the use of the original questionnaire for parents, which consisted of 70 questions. Results. During the study, the peculiarities of eating behavior in children of different age were evaluated. In the newborn period, 5 main types of eating behavior were analyzed, which differed by the breastfeeding act, and there was a connection with the further development of functional digestive disorders. In infants, 3 main groups of eating disorders have been detected: regime disorders, functional gastrointestinal disorders, early termination of breastfeeding. Eating habits within the first 1,000 days were characterized by naughtiness in a third of children, the use of entertainment during meals, refusal to eat at the proper time. In older children, the general characteristics of the diet, family food habits and taste preferences, as well as the family’s cultural and educational level had a considerable influence on the formation of eating behavior. Conclusions. The identification of modern nutritional patterns, taking into account the age aspect and the set of factors affecting the formation, development and occurrence of eating behavior deviations, allows timely preventing the development of pathological conditions and determining the further approaches to the formation of healthy eating habits.