Prevalence of picky eaters among infants and toddlers and their caregivers’ decisions about offering a new food
Section snippets
Sample
Caregivers who had children four to 24 months of age were recruited for the Feeding Infants and Toddler Study (FITS). Methodology for the cross-sectional survey of 3,022 infants and toddlers has been published (34).
Data collection
Telephone interviews were conducted with the primary caregiver residing in an identified household. For all participants, data included one 24-hour recall (with nutritional supplements) of the child’s food intake, ethnicity, weight and height, and the primary caregiver’s
Sample
Of the sample, 51% were males and 49% females. Ethnicity was 77% white, 7% non-Hispanic black, 10% Hispanic, and 6% “other” or multiracial groups. The mothers ranged in age from younger than 15 years to 40 years or older, with a majority of mothers aged 20 to 34 years when their study children were born. Participants represented mostly urban and suburban households, with about two-thirds of the sample reporting household incomes ranging from $25,000 to $99,999.
Frequency and prediction of picky eater status
The primary caregivers who
Discussion
The FITS provides the first national data on the prevalence of caregivers who perceived their infants and toddlers as picky eaters. Unlike the FITS, most studies about food acceptance involve mostly white children who were older than 24 months of age 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 22, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33. We found that the prevalence of picky eater groups was reported for both sexes and among children from families with varying household incomes. Furthermore, all ethnic groups in the
Applications
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Dietetics professionals need to be aware that the prevalence of children perceived as picky eaters was evident in both sexes and all ages, ethnicities, and household incomes.
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When new foods are introduced, caregivers should provide tasting opportunities more frequently than they do at the present; between eight to 15 repeated exposures to a new food may be required to enhance the child’s acceptance.
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