To assess the prevalence of pediatric feeding disorder (PFD) in U.S. children.
Retrospective cohort study of Medicaid Databases from Arizona (2009-2017) and Wisconsin (2005-2014) (public insurance databases) and The Truven Health Analytics MarketScan Commercial Claims and Encounters Database (2009-2015) (nationwide private insurance database). Diagnoses and procedures were identified from inpatient and outpatient claims using ICD-9 and ICD-10 diagnostic codes and ICD and CPT-4 procedure codes. Children with PFD were identified by presence of ≥1 PFD diagnosis and absence of any eating disorder diagnoses within a calendar year.
We identified 126,002 and 367,256 children ≤5 years of age with PFD with public and private insurance, respectively. Over a 5-year period (2009-2014) the prevalences of PFD in children with public insurance in Arizona and Wisconsin were 32.91 (CI 32.61-33.20) and 34.73 (CI 34.37-35.09) children per 1,000 child-years, respectively. Similarly, the prevalence of PFD in private insurance carriers was 21.07 (CI 21.00-21.14) children per 1,000 child-years. The prevalence trends showed a significant linear increase in children within both insurance cohorts. In 2014, the annual prevalence of PFD was 1 in 23, 1 in 24, and 1 in 37 in children under 5 years in the publicly insured cohorts in Wisconsin, Arizona, and the privately insured cohort, respectively.
The prevalence of feeding disorders in the U.S. rivals that of commonly diagnosed conditions such as eating disorders and autism.

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