Parents of Children with Significant Disabilities Describe Their Children’s Eating Habits: A Phenomenological Study

Abstract

This qualitative phenomenological study, through interviews, aimed to understand the experiences of parents of children with significant multiple disabilities about their children’s eating habits. Review of literature indicated disparities in health between people with significant disabilities (SD) that include intellectual disabilities (ID), intellectual/developmental disabilities (IDD), or multiple impairments (MI) and people who are typically developing. People with significant disabilities are at a higher risk for obesity, future weight gain, underweight and/or malnutrition, adherence to a less-healthy diet, and problem behaviors during meal time. Semi-structured initial and follow-up interviews used general questions to gather data, which were subsequently coded and examined for themes across participants. Five themes emerged from the interviews and were compared to findings in the literature. This study included some unique characteristics: detailed descriptions of the children’s eating habits, family experiences around these habits, and what habits are going well for the children.