Use of chopsticks in Chinese children.
OBJECTIVE
There has been no study on the developmental stage of acquiring the skill of using chopsticks, which is a common eating tool of the Orientals. We aimed to obtain a developmental profile for achieving the skills of chopsticks manipulation in Chinese children and to assess the correlation between chopsticks manipulation and the level of achieving independence in 'eating' item in the Functional Independence Measure of children (WeeFIM). We also studied the relationship between demographic and environmental factors and the age of achieving chopstick manipulation.


METHODS
Direct interview with the mothers of 445 non-disabled children who were randomly selected from the community. A chopsticks score (CS) of 1 was defined as children who could use chopsticks to finish more than half the meal, and a CS of 0 as failure to do so.


RESULTS
The mean age of achieving a CS of 1 was 4.6 years. At 6.7 years, all these children achieved this skill. There was a significant relationship between age of achieving the skills of chopsticks and the level of attaining independence in 'WeeFIM eating' score. (P < 0.001) However, there was no correlation of age of achieving CS of 1 with sex, social class or the presence of a domestic helper.


CONCLUSIONS
Most non-disabled Chinese children can achieve the visual motor skill of using chopsticks at 4.6 years. There was also a correlation with the age of achieving independence in the WeeFIM eating score. The skill of using chopsticks should be added as part of the tools, apart from spoons or forks, for scoring WeeFIM in Chinese children.
Wong
Sheila
S
Department of Paediatrics, The University of Hong Kong, Queen Mary Hospital, Pokfulam, Hong Kong.
Chan
Kingsley
K
Wong
Virginia
V
Wong
Wilfred
W
D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003297:Cooking and Eating Utensils; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006723:Hong Kong; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D009048:Motor Skills