Determining the Prevalence and Characteristics of Feeding Disorders within a University Pediatric Dental Clinic

Abstract

Purpose: To determine the prevalence of feeding disorders and its relationship with health status in 2-7 years old children (n=200) seen at the UW Center for Pediatric Dentistry (UWCPD). Additionally, we aim to evaluate children’s and parents’ meal time behavior using the Behavioral Pediatrics Feeding Assessment Scale (BPFAS). Finally, we will determine if there is an association between feeding disorders and presence and severity of dental caries. The BPFAS is a validated and calibrated survey used to identify the presence of feeding disorders. Methods: Descriptive statistics (means, standard deviations, counts, and percentages) will be calculated for demographic and BPFAS scores. The association between the presence and severity of caries and feeding disorders will be analyzed using logistic regression after adjusting for possible confounders. Significance will be set to α = 0.05. Results: The sample was composed of 200 subjects with a mean age of 5 years old and 50.5% were female. We found the presence of a feeding disorder in our study sample was 8%. There was a significant association between the presence of a feeding disorder and being Black or African American (p=0.040). There was an association found between being first in birth order and having a feeding disorder (p=0.026). Of the group with a feeding disorder 62.5% of them were first born. Most of the children were healthy (ASA I 84.5%) and there was no association found between ASA classification and presence of feeding disorder. There was also no association between feeding disorders and presence and severity of dental caries. Conclusions: Ultimately, we demonstrated an 8% prevalence of feeding disorders within the dental clinic. There was no significant relationship between feeding disorder and health status though our study population only had approximately 3% with special health care needs. Though feeding disorders were not associated with dental caries, the pediatric dentist has an obligation to treat the whole patient and should aid pediatrician in screening for feeding disorders among their patient population.