The term “feeding difficulties” is broad, and the severity and complexity of specific difficulties can vary tremendously based on each child’s individual needs. Feeding difficulties can manifest as refusal, selectivity, or low intake of food. The causes are multifactorial, spanning behavioral and underlying biological/medical conditions. Some of the challenges that lead to feeding difficulties in children include–
sensory processing problems
poor attachment
difficulty coordinating suck/swallow
poor suction
selective eating
restricted food intake
tongue tie
oral-motor impairments
Feeding is one of the most important interactions between caregivers and children in the first few years of life. It can be extremely challenging for those experiencing problems. After identifying the difficulty and its causes, programmers and health workers need to provide appropriate support services to help children and their caregivers manage it.
Mealtimes provide an important opportunity for family members to eat together, but can be particularly challenging for caregivers of children with feeding difficulties, especially when those children have a disability that requires additional
Children’s healthy development depends on an intricate relationship among mind, body, and environment. Monitoring children’s development, especially during the early years, provides insights into the way they are growing intellectually, physically, and emotionally, and enables early identification of children with developmental delays or disability.
By monitoring developmental milestones, which are the skills that most children are able to perform by a certain age, health care providers can offer information and services to match the abilities and needs of each child and their family.
Supporting children with disabilities and their families as early as possible can greatly improve their quality of life. Some children with disabilities require access to specialized services. This includes support for nutrition and feeding as children with disabilities are three times as likely to be malnourished as other children, and twice as likely to die from malnutrition.
Programs can reduce the risk of malnutrition among children with disabilities by, for example, equipping service providers and caregivers with the information and skills required to care for children with
The 240 million children living with a disability have the same rights as other children, including the right to lead full lives with dignity and as much independence as possible. Governments and other stakeholders must address the factors that exclude children with disabilities from their communities and health services.
Because of community and cultural misperceptions, children with disabilities endure tremendous levels of discrimination and exclusion from social systems, including within their own families. These barriers prevent children with disabilities from fully participating in