Child Eating Behavior Research Articles

Impact of Infant Milk-Type and Childhood Eating Behaviors on Functional Constipation in Preschool Children.

To investigate the association between functional constipation, infant feeding in early infancy and eating behavior in preschool children. A cross-sectional study was undertaken in public and private schools in the state of Sergipe (Northeast of Brazil). The sample calculation was based on a 25% estimate of constipation prevalence in Brazilian children, resulting in a sample size of 1051 children. Functional constipation was assessed using Rome IV criteria. Eating behavior was assessed using the Children's Eating Behavior Questionnaire. Adjusted odds ratios were estimated using a multivariate model. The prevalence of functional constipation was 23%. After adjusting for water intake, children with food fussiness were >6 times likely to have constipation (odds ratio [OR] = 6.65; 95% confidence interval [CI] 5.19-8.52). Children who were fed with cow's milk in the first 6 months of age were up to 15.2 times more likely to have functional constipation. Bottle feeding at 0-6 months of age increased the risk of functional constipation at preschool age (whole cow's milk: OR = 17.02; 95% CI 7.33-39.51, infant formula: OR = 6.35; 95% CI 3.42-11.79, mixed breastfeeding: OR = 10.83; 95% CI 4.57-25.69). Food fussiness and the use of cow's milk-based feeding bottles at 0-6 months of age were associated with functional constipation in preschool children.

Parental reward-based eating drive predicts parents' feeding behaviors and Children's ultra-processed food intake

Reward-based eating drive is associated with individual consumption, but there has been a paucity of research on the relationships between parental reward-based eating, child feeding behaviors, and child food consumption. Child feeding behaviors likely to be associated with parental reward-based eating drive include the provision of ultra-processed foods, as they are designed to be hyperpalatable and are associated with disordered food intake. The present study uses a virtual reality (VR) buffet restaurant environment to examine parents' food choice behaviors for their children and a food frequency assessment to measure the children's reported consumption over the course of a week. Results found that parental reward-based eating drive significantly predicted ultra-processed calories chosen by parents for their children in the VR Buffet, as well as the amount of ultra-processed food children ate according to the food frequency assessment. Both of these effects were significantly mediated by the healthfulness of the home food environment. This study is among the first to demonstrate associations between parental reward-based eating drive and child-focused food behavior and to elucidate a mediating effect of the home food environment on such relationships. These findings may be useful for the development of family-based interventions to improve child feeding and ultimately child health.

Gender effect on eating habits of Nigerian school children.

It is important to investigate children's eating habits based on different eating behaviors such as satiety responsiveness (SR), slowness in eating (SE), food fussiness (FF), food responsiveness (FR), enjoyment of food (EF), desire to drink (DD), emotional under-eating (EUE), and emotional over-eating (EOE). The main objective of this research was to investigate whether gender affects the eating habits of Nigerian school children.A cross-sectional survey was conducted between March and June 2019. A total of 120 parents of school children participated in the study. The Child Eating Behavior Questionnaire (CEBQ) was used to collect data. The CEBQ is composed of 35 items and eight subscales.Based on the analysis of parents’ reports, DD was higher in boys than girls, t (118) = 7.086, P < .001; EOE was higher in boys than girls, t (118) = 5.184, P < .001; EF was higher in boys than girls, t (118) = 2.183, P < .001; FF was higher in boys than girls, t (118) = 9.441, P < .001; and SR was higher in boys than girls, t (118) = 7.323, P < .001. However, EUE was lower in boys than girls, t (118) = −4.339, P < .001; FR was lower in boys than girls, t(118) = −3.112, P < .001; SE was lower in boys than girls, t(118) = −3.832, P < .001; thus, gender had a significant influence on eating habits of the school children.Gender significantly affects the eating habits of Nigerian school children. Thus, gender is an important factor to be considered when aiming to improve the eating habits of Nigerian school children.

The impact of digital era: Intensity of excessive use of gadget causing eating difficulty on children

This study aims at testing whether the use of gadget excessively has a correlation to eating difficulty of children. This research used cross-sectional study design with Chi-square testing involving 215 mothers of children aged 6-12 years who were selected by using stratified random sampling in State Primary School 08 of Tegal Alur, West Jakarta, Indonesia. This study used Children's Eating Behaviour Questionnaire and gadget use intensity questionnaire. This study revealed that there was a significant relationship between intensity of using gadget and eating difficulty behavior on school-aged children (P-value=0.009). Children using gadget in a high intensity have an opportunity of 2.145 times bigger of causing eating difficulty than a low intensity (OR=2.145; 95% CI=1.239-18.357). These findings suggest that parents have to pay an active attention to their children's growth and development by applying a good eating pattern and limitation of using gadget.

Using association rules mining to characterize loss of control eating in childhood

Childhood loss of control (LOC)-eating, the perceived inability to stop or control eating, is associated with increased risk for binge-eating disorder and obesity. However, the correlates of LOC-eating in childhood remain unclear. A secondary analysis of 177, 7-12-year-old children from five laboratory feeding studies was performed to investigate potential family (e.g., frequency of meals together, feeding practices), parental (e.g., education, weight status), and child (e.g., weight status, appetite traits) correlates of LOC-eating. Association rules mining (ARM1), a data-driven approach, was used to examine all characteristics that were common across studies to identify which were associated with LOC-eating. Results showed LOC-eating was characterized by a combination of child appetitive behaviors and parental feeding practices. In particular, LOC-eating was associated with low parental pressure to eat in combination with a high propensity to want to eat all the time and frequent refusal or dislike of novel foods. This pattern of both food approach (i.e., wanting to eat all the time) and avoidant behaviors (i.e., food fussiness) highlights the need for more research to characterize the complex patterns of appetitive traits associated with LOC-eating. In contrast, the absence of LOC-eating was associated with a low propensity to want to eat all the time, greater family income, and infrequent emotional overeating. Therefore, propensity to want to eat all the time, a single question from the Children's Eating Behavior Questionnaire, characterized both the presence and absence of LOC-eating, highlighting the need for more research to determine if this question captures clinically relevant individual differences. Future studies addressing these questions will advance our understanding of pediatric LOC-eating and may lead to interventions to reduce risk for more severe eating disorder symptomology.

The Influence of Parental Dietary Behaviors and Practices on Children's Eating Habits.

Poor dietary habits established during childhood might persist into adulthood, increasing the risk of developing obesity and obesity-related complications such as Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. It has been found that early modifications in eating habits, especially during childhood, might promote health and decrease the risk of developing diseases during later life. Various studies found a great influence of parental dietary habits on dietary behaviors of their children regardless of demographic characteristics such as gender, age, socioeconomic status and country; however, the exact mechanism is still not clear. Therefore, in this review, we aimed to investigate both parents’ and children’s dietary behaviors, and to provide evidence for the potential influence of parents’ dietary behaviors and practices on certain children’s eating habits. Family meals were found to contribute the most in modeling children’s dietary habits as they represent an important moment of control and interaction between parents and their children. The parental practices that influenced their children most were role modeling and moderate restriction, suggesting that the increase of parental encouragement and decrease of excessive pressure could have a positive impact in their children’s dietary behaviors. This narrative review highlights that parental child-feeding behaviors should receive more attention in research studies as modifiable risk factors, which could help to design future dietary interventions and policies to prevent dietary-related diseases.

Parental Feeding, Child Eating and Physical Activity: Differences in Children Living with and without Asthma.

This study aimed to establish the differences in parental attitudes toward feeding and activity, as well as child eating and activity levels, between families of children living with and without asthma. Parents of children and young people aged between 10 and 16 years living both with asthma (n = 310) and without asthma (n = 311) completed measures for parental feeding, parental attitudes toward child exercise, child eating, child activity level and asthma control. Children living with asthma had a significantly higher BMIz (BMI standardised for weight and age) score, were significantly more likely to emotionally overeat and desired to drink more than their peers without asthma. Parents of children with asthma reported greater use of food to regulate emotions, restriction of food for weight control, monitoring of child activity, pressure to exercise and control over child activity. When asthma symptoms were controlled, parental restriction of food for weight management predicted greater child BMIz scores, and higher child activity predicted lower child BMIz scores. These relationships were not found to be significant for children with inadequately controlled asthma. Differences in parental attitudes toward feeding and exercise, and child eating and exercise behaviors, between families may help to explain the increased obesity risk for children with asthma.

Children's eating behaviour traits and dental caries.

This cross-sectional study aimed to assess eating behavior traits in children with or without dental caries. A sample of 580 children aged 8 years enrolled in 20 public schools in the city of Pelotas, Brazil were included. Parents/caregivers provided sociodemographic information and answered the Children's Eating Behavior Questionnaire (CEBQ) to assess eating behavior traits. This instrument possesses the subscales: food responsiveness, enjoyment of food, satiety responsiveness, slowness in eating, food fussiness, emotional overeating, emotional undereating, and desire to drink. To assess the presence of decayed, missing or filled teeth (DMFT/dmft), the World Health Organization (WHO) criteria were adopted. WHO criteria were used to evaluate presence of overweight and obesity. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to compare the mean score in each CEBQ subscale according to the different exposure variables. Linear regression was used to assess the association between dental caries and CEBQ subscales means. Approximately half of the children were male (51.03percent) and 66.73percent had low/middle socioeconomic status. The mean DMFT/dmft was 2.41, ranging from 0 to 13, and 63percent of the children showed DMFT/dmft > 0. After adjustments for potential confounders, children with dental caries showed higher scores on the subscales desire to drink (P=0.03), and satiety responsiveness (P=0.04). The present study showed that some aspects of eating behaviors differ in children with or without caries. Such knowledge adds to the understanding of the multifactorial etiology of caries and may help in the development of nutritional interventions to promote healthy eating behaviors, with benefits for oral health.

The relationship between parental food parenting practices & child eating behavior: A comparison of mothers and fathers

The objective of this study was to compare the relationships between food parenting practices and child eating behavior among mothers and fathers of young children. This cross-sectional study recruited mothers (n = 127) and fathers (n = 118) of children (4.2 ± 1.3 years old) to complete surveys (face-to-face and online). Each parent completed the Comprehensive Food Parenting Questionnaire, Children's Eating Behavior Questionnaire, and demographic questions. Linear regressions were used to compare the relationships between parental food parenting practices and children's eating behaviors with parent sex as a moderator. Child age and sex served as control variables in each regression. Parent sex was a significant moderator in several relationships between parent food parenting practices and child eating behavior. In the relationship between parental restriction for health (ß = -.14, p = .014) and monitoring (ß = -.13, p = .028) and child slowness in eating, the slope of the interaction was significantly higher for mothers, meaning that when mothers and fathers use the same level of restriction for health and monitoring, child slowness in eating is higher for children of mothers. When mothers and fathers used the same level of restriction for weight, child food responsiveness (ß = .13, p = .003) and emotional overeating (ß = .12, p = .046) was significantly higher for children of fathers. There may be differences in how mothers and fathers implement food parenting practices and/or differences in how these practices impact children. Specifically, for fathers, it seems that the use of restriction for weight is more detrimental for children's eating behaviors compared to when mothers use the same level of restriction for weight.

Using a Machine Learning Methodology to Analyze Reddit Posts regarding Child Feeding Information

The current research used human-coded Reddit posts categorized by already established food parenting concepts (coercive control, structure, autonomy support, recipes) as a basis for machine learning models, with the objective of providing insight into topics related to feeding children discussed on social media and to provide a way for future research to use our trained machine-learned model. Reddit posts from specific, parenting-related subreddits were collected and labeled as they related to aspects of child-feeding behavior. Posts were then put through text pre-processing, converted into TF-IDF vectors, and used to train support vector machine binary and multiclass classification models. Other classifiers and text-preprocessing steps were also tested. After training, the binary model was able to classify posts with 86.1% accuracy as being about child feeding or not, up from a baseline accuracy of 57.6%. The multiclass model yielded a 79.1% accuracy to classify posts related to four categories of child feeding concepts (coercive control, autonomy support, structure, recipes), up from a baseline of 51.9%. The comparison models were found to perform less favorably. The best performing binary model is publicly available for use via the Social Media Macroscope and we provide details on how to use this model. Information is presented such that other researchers and professionals interested in examining issues related to feeding children posted on social media could effectively utilize the same approach.

Food avoidance behaviour among children aged 2 – 6 years in North Jakarta and its correlation with weight and energy intake

Background: Children generally facing food avoidance or food refusal behaviour and it may affect their food consumption. But there is limited information on food avoidance behaviour among Indonesian children. Therefore, this study aimed to assess whether energy intake and body weight are influenced by food avoidance behaviour in children aged 2-6 years in North Jakarta.Methods: Participants (N=168) were recruited between February – March 2020. Data collection was obtained via interviews with the mother or caregiver of the children. Food avoidance behaviour consisting of satiety responsiveness, slowness in eating, emotional under-eating, and food fussiness was measured with the Child Eating Behaviour Questionnaire. The child’s weight and dietary intake were assessed using a digital weighing scale and 2 x 24 hours food recall. Spearman test was performed to analyse the correlation between these variables. Multivariate analysis was done using linear regression to determine predictors of a child’s body weight and energy intake.Results: Energy intake among children was below the recommendation, and it was significantly correlated with the child’s body weight. Satiety responsiveness was negatively correlated with the child’s body weight (r = -0.166; p-value &lt; 0.05) and energy intake (r = -0.210; p-value &lt; 0.05). After running a linear regression test, we found that satiety responsiveness along with family income and child’s age was a significant predictor of energy intake among children.Conclusions: Children who are more responsive to satiety had lower body weight and energy intake. Understanding the child’s food avoidance behaviour is useful for designing intervention programs related to optimizing intake in children and malnutrition.

Validity of the Adult Eating Behavior Questionnaire for adolescents treated in a weight management clinic.

The Child and Adult Eating Behavior Questionnaires (CEBQ, AEBQ) are established measures of eating behaviors. However, no similar measure is available for adolescents. Prior research has validated the AEBQ in adult samples, and one study has explored using the measure with adolescents. However, no studies to date have examined the validity of the AEBQ in adolescent clinical populations. Furthermore, no studies have examined associations between the AEBQ and indicators of health status in adolescents. A total of 280 adolescents (12-17 years old, 60% female) seen in a pediatric weight management clinic completed the AEBQ at intake. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted with AEBQ items to evaluate the model fit of one-, two-, seven-, and eight-factor structures. Intercorrelations between scale scores from AEBQ Food Approach and Food Avoidance domains were calculated. Associations of AEBQ scales with body mass index (BMI) and binge-eating behaviors were examined using Spearman Rho correlations and independent t-tests. CFAs revealed that the best fitting model was a seven-factor structure excluding the Hunger scale, although overall model fit was only marginally acceptable (X2 = 980.94, CFI = 0.925, TLI = 0.915, RMSEA = 0.074). Intercorrelation analyses indicated that all Food Approach scales were significantly associated with one another (r = 0.243-0.654); Food Avoidance scales were inconsistently correlated (r = 0.034-0.439). No AEBQ scales were correlated with BMI (r = -0.101-0.082). Stronger links were found with binge eating; higher frequency binge-related behaviors were associated with higher Food Approach scores. The seven-factor structure of AEBQ demonstrates a marginally acceptable fit for treatment-seeking adolescents with obesity. The Food Approach scales demonstrated more convergent validity than the Food Avoidance scales. The Food Approach scales also exhibited some clinical utility for identifying patients with increased risk for binge eating, which is a common target for behavioral intervention. Implications for maximizing the AEBQ's potential for assessing eating behaviors in adolescents with obesity are discussed.

Diet diversity was limited in Malawi resulting in stunting despite availability of foods in markets.

Stunting, the most common type of malnutrition, has been a big burden for developing countries such as the Republic of Malawi. The state of malnutrition and the eating behavior of children were surveyed at the border between Malawi and Zambia using anthropometrical measurements and Household Diet Diversity Scores. Two rural sites were chosen to compare the impact of empowering communities with nutritional knowledge. Children between 6months and 5years old were randomly recruited to evaluate nutritional status. Their caregivers were interviewed to collect Household Dietary Diversity Scores. Nutritional knowledge at the site where intervention had occurred was higher than at the site where intervention had not yet occurred. However, stunting prevalence at the site where intervention occurred was not statistically lower than site that had not experienced intervention. The Household Dietary Diversity Scores study revealed that some kinds of food groups were almost absent such as organ meat (kidney, liver, and heart), and dairy products but that cereals, spices, and other vegetables were almost 100% taken at both sites, and distance from market was not associated with diet diversity. The fact that food diversity was not associated with distance from market would explain the limited food accessibility and poor utilization. Although animal resource foods are available at market, they were not been consumed. The profound challenge lays in their accessibility and utilization. A successful project would aim to introduce vitamin A-rich vegetables and would explore the sustainable production of animal resource foods in the community.

The association between childhood adiposity and appetite assessed using the Child Eating Behavior Questionnaire and Baby Eating Behavior Questionnaire: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to quantify associations between Child Eating Behavior Questionnaire (CEBQ) and Baby Eating Behavior Questionnaire (BEBQ) appetitive traits (food approach: Food Responsiveness [FR], Enjoyment of Food [EF], Emotional Overeating [EOE], and Desire to Drink [DD]; food avoidant: Satiety Responsiveness [SR], Slowness in Eating [SE], Emotional Undereating [EUE], Food Fussiness [FF]) and measures of child adiposity. Searches of six databases up to February 2019 identified 72 studies (CEBQ, n = 67; BEBQ, n = 5), and 27 met the meta-analysis criteria. For cross-sectional studies reporting unadjusted correlations with body mass index z-scores (BMIz) (n = 19), all traits were associated with BMIz in expected directions (positive: FR, EF, EOE, and DD; negative: SR, SE, EUE, and FF). Pooled estimates ranged from r = 0.22 (FR) to r = -0.21 (SR). For cross-sectional studies reporting regression coefficients (n = 10), three traits (FR, EF, and EOE) associated positively, and three traits (SR, SE, and EUE) negatively, with BMIz (β = -0.31 [SR] to β = 0.22 [FR]). Eleven studies reported prospective relationships from appetite to adiposity measures for six scales (positive: FR, EF, EOE, and DD; negative: SR and SE). Five studies reported relationships from adiposity measures to appetite for five traits (positive: FR, EF, and EOE; negative: SR). All BEBQ traits were consistently cross-sectionally associated with adiposity measures. Overall, CEBQ/BEBQ-assessed appetitive traits show consistent cross-sectional relationships with measures of child adiposity.

Fidelity and factors influencing implementation of Healthy Me, Healthy: process evaluation of a social marketing campaign for diet and physical activity behaviors of children in childcare.

The effectiveness of interventions targeting children's eating and physical activity behaviors through childcare settings is inconsistent. To enhance public health impact, it is imperative to evaluate fidelity of implementing complex interventions in real-world settings. This study evaluated fidelity and contextual factors influencing implementation of Healthy Me, Healthy We (HMHW). HMHW was an 8-month social marketing campaign delivered through childcare to support children's healthy eating and physical activity. HMHW required two levels of implementation support (research team and childcare providers) and two levels of campaign delivery (childcare providers and parents). Process evaluation was conducted among childcare centers in the intervention group (n=48) of the cluster-randomized control trial. Measures included attendance logs, self-report surveys, observation checklists, field notes, and semi-structured interviews. A 35-item fidelity index was created to assess fidelity of implementation support and campaign delivery. The fidelity with which HMHW was implemented by childcare providers and parents was low (mean 17.4 out of 35) and decreased between childcare providers and parents. Childcare providers had high acceptability of the program and individual components (80 - 93%). Only half of parents felt intervention components were acceptable. Frequently cited barriers to implementation by childcare providers included time constraints, parent engagement, staff turnover, and restrictive policies. The lack of observable effect of HMHW on children's dietary or physical activity behaviors may be due to inadequate implementation at multiple levels. Different or additional strategies are necessary to support implementation of multilevel interventions, particularly when individuals are expected to deliver intervention components and support others in doing so.

Exploring the relationship between appetitive behaviours, executive function, and weight status among preschool children.

The goal was to conduct exploratory analysis to determine if executive functions (EFs) and food responsiveness/satiety responsiveness (appetitive behaviours that describe one's tendency to eat in the presence of food or food cues) interact to influence weight status among preschool children participating in a trial promoting self-regulation around energy-dense foods. At baseline, parents completed the Behaviour Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Preschool and the Child Eating Behaviour Questionnaire. Children completed anthropometric measurements at the preschool. Spearman's correlation, linear regression, and tests of interaction were conducted. The relationship between weight status and EFs among those who were high vs low in food responsiveness and satiety responsiveness was examined. Children (n = 92) had a mean age of 5.1 years and body mass index (BMI) percentile of 57.6; half (54%) were male. There were significant correlations between food responsiveness and several EFs (emotional control, inhibitory control, working memory, and plan/organize). In the stratified analysis, children with high food responsiveness or low satiety responsiveness had higher BMI percentiles as emotional control skills worsened. BMI percentiles were not elevated among children with low food responsiveness and poor emotional control. These results suggest that EFs may be more relevant to weight status if preschool children had high levels of food responsiveness or low levels of satiety responsiveness (ie, increased tendency to be influenced by environmental food cues). This analysis should be replicated with direct measures of executive function and appetitive behaviours in larger samples of young children to examine longitudinal impact on weight status.

Two to Tango? The Dance of Maternal Authority and Feeding Practices with Child Eating Behavior.

The purpose of this study was to elucidate the relationship between maternal feeding practices and children’s eating problems. Mothers of 292 children aged 5.9 ± 1.1, 50% boys, reported online on parental authority, overt and covert control of the child’s food choices, child feeding practices, and their child’s problematic eating behavior. Structural equation modelling yielded a model with excellent indices of fit (χ(2)(52) = 50.72, p = 0.56; normed fit index (NFI) = 0.94; root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.001). The model showed that an authoritarian maternal authority style was associated with overt control, which was associated with maternal tendency to pressure children to eat and with maternal restriction of highly processed or calorie-rich snack foods. These, in turn, were positively associated with the child’s satiety response, food fussiness, and slow eating, and negatively with the child’s enjoyment of food. In contrast, a permissive maternal authority style was associated with covert control of the child’s eating, concern over the child being overweight, and the restriction of highly processed and calorie-rich snack foods, which were in turn positively associated with the child’s emotional overeating and the child’s food responsiveness. The model seems to tap into two distinct patterns of mother-child feeding and eating dynamics, apparently related to children with opposing appetitive tendencies.

Children's Eating Behavior Questionnaire Correlated with Body Compositions of Thai Children and Adolescents with Obesity: A Pilot Study.

Introduction Obesity is a major threat to public health. Eating behavior and dietary intake of especially high energy-dense food with low nutrients contribute to the current epidemic of childhood obesity. However, the relationship between eating behavior and body composition has yet to be examined in Thai children and adolescents with obesity. We assessed the association between children's eating behaviors and their body composition in prerandomized patients who participated in the randomized trial titled “Impact of Dietary Fiber as Prebiotics on Intestinal Microbiota in Obese Thai Children”. Methods During the prerandomization process, a cross-sectional study was conducted. We recruited children and adolescents aged 7 to 15 years from Bangkok, Thailand. Eating behaviors were assessed by the Children's Eating Behavior Questionnaire (CEBQ), which is a parent or self-reported research instrument conducted by face-to-face interviews. Body mass index (BMI), BMI-for-age Z-score, waist and hip circumferences, and body compositions were assessed. Pearson's correlation coefficients were used to assess associations between the study variables. Results Ninety-seven Thai children and adolescents with obesity participated in the study; 59 (61%) were male. Median [IQR] of age and BMI z-score were 10.5 [9.0, 12.2] years and 3.0 [2.6, 3.7], respectively. Subscale for Enjoyment of Food had the highest score. There were no associations between eating behaviors and BMI z-score. However, Emotional Overeating was associated with fat-free mass index (correlation coefficient = 0.24, p=0.02) and girls with obesity had lower scores in “Slowness in Eating” compared to boys [mean 2.1 versus 1.8, 95% CI: (−0.06, −0.01), p=0.04]. Conclusion Among Thai children and adolescents with obesity, the difference in multidimensional eating behavior might be affected by fat-free mass. Additional study with a larger sample size needed to explore underlying mechanisms and findings can be used to develop future behavior modification program.

The Correlation between Feeding Habit Factor and The Incidence of Stunting in Children Under Five Years

Stunting becomes one of the prior nutritional problems in Bangka Belitung Islands Province, especially West Bangka Regency with a high stunting rate. Feeding habit in children will continuously influence nutrition fulfillment that will directly affect the incidence of stunting. This study aimed at identifying the correlation between feeding habit (beliefs, feeding practices, and children’s eating behavior and the incidence of stunting in children under five years in West Bangka Regency. This was a quantitative study with across-sectional approach. The total sample was 186 respondents taken using a consecutive sampling technique. The instruments for data collection were height measuring instrument, height-for-age graphic according to WHO 2006 to see the z-score and the under-five children’s characteristics questionnaire, a questionnaire of food beliefs, feeding practices questionnaire (CFQ), and child eating behaviour (CEBQ). The analysis in this study used a Chi-Square test. The result showed that there was a significant correlation between child eating behavior and the incidence of stunting in children under five in West Bangka Regency with a p-valueof 0.001 (p&lt;0.05) and an OR of 4.89. It indicates that the low eating behavior in children under five has a possibility of 4.89 times higher to experience stunting than the high eating behavior. Also, there is no correlation between mothers’ beliefs and feeding practices with the incidence of stunting (p-value of 0.2 &amp; 0.7 respectively). This study is expected to form a peer group for the community of under-five children’s families to prevent and improve the children’s nutritional status and development optimally.

A Comparative Analysis of Chewing Function and Feeding Behaviors in Children with Autism

The present study was aimed to compare chewing performance level and feeding behaviors of children with autism to their typically developing peers. A total of 56 children (37 children with autism, 19 typically developing children) participated in the study. Feeding-related characteristics and observational oral-motor characteristics of children were recorded. The Karaduman Chewing Performance Scale (KCPS) was used to assess chewing performance level, the Behavioral Pediatrics Feeding Assessment Scale (BPFAS) was used to assess feeding behaviors of children, and the Turkish version of the Feeding/Swallowing Impact Survey (T-FS-IS) was used to evaluate the effect of the child's feeding and swallowing problem on their parents. Results showed that transition time to solid food intake for children with autism was later than typically developing children (p = 0.014), and they had more tongue thrusting (p = 0.009). There were differences between groups in terms of KCPS (p = 0.002), BPFAS (Total frequency score, p = 0.008; Child frequency score, p = 0.017; Parent frequency score, p = 0.021; Restriction score, p = 0.004), and T-FS-IS (Daily activities, p = 0.004; Worry, p = 009; Feeding difficulties, p = 0.031; Total score, p = 0.001). The present study shows that children with autism had worse chewing function and worse mealtime functioning compared to typically developing children. Their parents perceived mealtime behavior as more problematic, and parents' quality of life related to feeding/swallowing disorders was worse compared to parents of typically developing children. The study results reveal the importance of early assessment and intervention of chewing function and feeding behaviors in children with autism.