From Purees to Portion-Based Meals: Building Complex Feeding Repertoires for Children with Feeding Difficulties
摘要
There is perhaps no other biological activity as important to long-term mental and physical health outcomes as proper food and liquid consumption. Yet, many children experience pervasive feeding challenges due to certain physiological and/or environmental variables. Unfortunately, feeding difficulties can have harmful effects on a child’s health, growth, behavior, and learning. In many cases, children require extensive medical care, specific mealtime routines that cannot be conducted in all settings, or therapy to address skill and motivational deficits. Behavior-analytic interventions have the most empirical support as treatment for feeding difficulties. The purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview of pediatric feeding difficulties, their etiology, and empirically supported assessment and treatment strategies. Additionally, we provide practitioners with a roadmap for how to (a) identify meaningful and achievable feeding goals, (b) program for generalization and maintenance, (c) mitigate possible relapse, and (d) progress children to age- or developmentally appropriate feeding routines.