title: The relation between child feeding problems as measured by parental report and mealtime behavior observation: A pilot study.
abstract: Because feeding problems have clear negative consequences for both child and caretakers, early diagnosis and intervention are important. Parent-report questionnaires can contribute to early identification, because they are efficient and typically offer a 'holistic' perspective of the child's eating in different contexts. In this pilot study, we aim to explore the concurrent validity of a short screening instrument (the SEP, which is the Dutch MCH-FS) in one of its target populations (a group of premature children) by comparing the total score with the observed behavior of the child and caretaker during a regular home meal. 28 toddlers (aged 9-18 months) and their caretakers participated in the study. Video-observations of the meals were coded for categories of eating behavior and parent-child interaction. The results show that the total SEP-score correlates with food refusal, feeding efficiency, and self-feeding, but not with negative affect and parental instructions. This confirms that the SEP has a certain degree of concurrent validity in the sense that its total score is associated with specific 'benchmark' feeding behaviors: food refusal, feeding efficiency and autonomy. Future studies with larger samples are needed to generalize the findings from this pilot to a broader context.
authors.affiliation: Heymans Institute for Psychological Research, University of Groningen, Grote Kruisstraat 2/1, 9712 TS, Groningen, The Netherlands. Electronic address: m.w.g.van.dijk@rug.nl.
authors.forename: Marijn
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: van Dijk
authors.affiliation: Heymans Institute for Psychological Research, University of Groningen, Grote Kruisstraat 2/1, 9712 TS, Groningen, The Netherlands. Electronic address: E.Bruinsma@rug.nl.
authors.forename: Eke
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bruinsma
authors.affiliation: Box 33, Faculty of Human Sciences, Ejército de los Andes 950-CP 5700, San Luis, 917-D5700BWS, Argentina. Electronic address: mphauser@unsl.edu.ar.
authors.forename: M Paulina
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Hauser
mesh_terms: D000067289:Behavior Observation Techniques; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D001068:Feeding and Eating Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D062407:Meals; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010290:Parents; D010865:Pilot Projects; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Feeding problems; Food refusal; Observation; Parental report; Questionnaire