title: Use of parent report to screen for feeding difficulties in young children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study aimed to collect data on Australian children with regard to feeding difficulties using a standardised questionnaire, compare these data to international data collected using the same tool, assess the short-term reliability of this tool and determine the sensitivity and specificity of this tool in detecting feeding difficulties.
  
  
  METHODS
  Parents completed the Behavioral Pediatric Feeding Assessment Scale. Data on 54 typically developing children and 81 children with feeding difficulties aged 2-6 years are presented.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our Australian sample performed comparably to normative data from Canada and the UK. Reliable results were demonstrated over a 2-week period, and the scale was shown to have high specificity. There was a significant difference between typically developing children and children with feeding difficulties in frequency of undesirable mealtime behaviours (P < 0.01) and the number of behaviours reported as a problem by parents using this tool (P < 0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study confirmed that the Behavioral Pediatric Feeding Assessment Scale is a valid tool for identifying Australian children with feeding difficulties. Given that it is simple to administer and has a high reliability and specificity, it is suggested as a useful screening tool for physicians working with young children. Data collected using this tool found that typically developing children display few undesirable feeding behaviours, and few behaviours are perceived as problems by parents. Therefore, any child presenting with a large number of feeding problems on this parent-reported measure should be referred for further multidisciplinary evaluation and treatment as required.
authors.affiliation: Children's Nutrition Research Centre, Queensland Children's Medical Research Institute, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Jeanne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Marshall
authors.forename: Madeline
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Raatz
authors.forename: Elizabeth C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Ward
authors.forename: Pamela
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dodrill
mesh_terms: D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: childhood feeding difficulties; feeding behaviour; referral and consultation; screening