Determinants of Picky Eating Behavior Among Preschoolers in Zagazig City, Egypt

Abstract

Background : Early life is a crucial period for human development. Picky eating behavior refers to rejecting new or unfamiliar foods and preferring food that lead to less food intake diversity which in turn lead to growth disruption. Moreover, current estimates of picky eating prevalence among preschoolers vary widely. Hereafter, the current study aimed to investigate the determinants of picky eating among preschoolers in Zagazig city, Egypt. Design: This study employed a cross-sectional descriptive research design. Setting : The present study was carried out in six non-governmental nursery schools in Zagazig city, Sharkia governorate, Egypt . Sample: comprised 272 preschoolers and their primary caregiver where children were from both sexes; aged 2 through 5 years; the child's primary caregiver ready to take part in the research and competent to communicate. Tools: four tools were used; interview questionnaire (Socio-demographic characteristics & child related questions), Anthropometric measurements, Parental Feeding Style Questionnaire and Child Eating Behavior Questionnaire. Results: from 272 preschoolers, 137 (50.4%) were picky eaters , 41.5% of children were obese, 19.5% had sever stunting and 3.7% had sever wasting. Prompting/encouragement and control overeating were the highest reported parental feeding style domains. Meanwhile, satiety responsiveness and food fussiness were the highly reported child eating behaviors. Moreover, statistically significant positive correlation was found between instrumental feeding and emotional feeding and encouragement, also, between emotional feeding and encouragement, while a statistically significant negative correlation was observed between instrumental feeding and picky eating. Conclusion: Picky eaters under five years of age are relatively prevalent. Parents bear responsibility towards their children picky eating behavior. No relation was recorded between picky eating and nutritional status (WHZ, WAZ and HAZ) of preschool children. Recommendations: Caregivers of children fewer than five need to be well informed and taught about feeding strategies and appropriate dietary interventions to develop sound child feeding practices and eating behaviors. Future research is advised to examine any connections between fussy eating and a child's development.