Feeding Disorders: Treatment

[Page 1453]Feeding difficulties are relatively common in childhood. For example, many toddlers and preschoolers prefer to eat sweets over vegetables or choose to delay eating in order to continue playing. Luckily, the majority of feeding difficulties that occur in childhood are easy to treat or resolve on their own over time. Some feeding difficulties, however, are atypical and warrant intensive intervention. Feeding difficulties that warrant intervention include, but are not limited to, overly challenging behavior or resistance during mealtimes (e.g., the child repeatedly pushes food away and turns his or her head away from the feeding utensil); refusal to eat a sufficient variety or volume of food to maintain adequate nutrition and caloric intake; great difficulty eating (e.g., gagging, coughing, vomiting) or refusal to eat ...