The following is a summary of “Developmental Feeding Stages and Their Impact on Child Feeding Behavior,” published in the December 2023  issue of Pediatrics by Sdravou, et al.

Previous studies have shown that there are important times for learning how to eat and that kids can only eat if they reach their food growth goals on time. For a study, researchers sought to describe the stages of feeding development in healthy children and children with gastrointestinal diseases (GIDs) and to look into the link between eating milestones and later feeding problems.

A case–control study was done with 711 healthy Greek children and 119 children with GID, all between the ages of 2 and 7. The parents filled out the Behavioural Pediatrics Food Assessment Scale and “self-reported” surveys about their child’s food experience. Preschoolers in the two groups had different eating habits when it came to when they were introduced to complementary foods like smooth, lumpy, and table foods, as well as when they ate with their fingers or drank from a cup. Guidelines set age-appropriate goals that were not met. When complementary and hard foods were introduced later (>6 months and >9 months, respectively), as well as finger feeding later (>9 months), they were linked to more difficult eating behaviors later on.

The path of feeding development, including less studied feeding milestones, shows differences between how children are fed now and how babies are fed and that all of the milestones looked at tend to be delayed. This is true for both healthy children and children with GIDs.

Source: journals.lww.com/jpgn/abstract/2023/12000/developmental_feeding_stages_and_their_impact_on.18.aspx