Feeding difficulties in typical children, sociodemographic factors, and family perception.

Purpose: To verify the association between signs of feeding difficulties in typical children and sociodemographic and economic aspects, parental age and education level, and family perception of feeding difficulties.

Methods: Observational, analytical, cross-sectional study with a probabilistic sample of 113 children aged 2 years to 5 years and 11 months, registered at the Unified Health System in a town in inland Minas Gerais, Brazil. The study applied a sample characterization questionnaire, the Brazilian Child Feeding Scale (EBAI), and the Brazilian Economic Classification Criteria (CCEB) and performed descriptive, univariate, and multivariate analyses with multiple logistic regression.

Results: Children aged 2 and 3 years tended to have more feeding difficulties (p = 0.002) than older children. Preterm children were 3.64 times more likely to have feeding difficulties (p = 0.033) than their peers. Children with signs of feeding difficulties had greater difficulty in food introduction (p = 0.007), ate poorly until 2 years old (p = 0.014), and were 3.7 times more likely to have signs of sensory changes (p = 0.001) than the others.

Conclusion: Children aged 2 and 3 years tend to have more feeding difficulties than older ones. Prematurity, difficulty in introducing foods, and sensory changes are associated with childhood feeding difficulties.