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Volume 13 Issue 1 (January) 2024

Original Articles

Picky Eating Behavior and Its Impact on Growth Among Pre-School Children Attending Outpatient Department of Tertiary Health Care Center: A Cross-Sectional Study
Kislay Parag, Hrishikesh Kumar, Rajesh Ranjan Sinha

Background: Preschoolers are picky eaters. Due to different assessment techniques and criteria, prevalence figures are mostly from wealthy countries and vary substantially. Mothers' finicky eating opinions may influence their intervention strategies. The purpose of the study is to ascertain how mothers perceive picky eating in preschool-aged kids as well as to calculate the incidence of picky eating in emerging nations. Methods: The JLNMCH, Bhagalpur, Bihar children's outpatient clinics recruited 140 mother-child pairs that fit the study's requirements. An interviewer-based designed survey with study-specific items to characterize fussy eating was used to collect data in accordance with the goals of the study. Data were analyzed on SSPS using descriptive statistics, and the results were displayed as frequencies and percentages. Results: Using the study's criteria of fussy eating, 16.5% was estimated. For mothers of picky eaters, 35.4% believed ‘picky eating is always abnormal for children at any age’, 22.6% believed ‘picky eating is always abnormal for children at any age and leads to poor weight gain’, 2.6% believed ‘picky eating is always abnormal, leads to poor weight gain and should be corrected by parents’, 13.6% believed ‘the child can learn picky eating from older children/siblings’, and 20.8% believed ‘picky eating leads to poor The mothers reported using coercion to eat (31.7%), rewards (20.8%), and self-prescribed drugs (26.3%). Conclusion: The prevalence of picky eating in this clime is comparable to rates in developed countries. Mothers' self-reported intervention tactics are influenced by their beliefs of fussy eating. Recommendations: The study emphasizes the necessity of parent education programs that dispel stereotypes and promote responsible feeding, with a preference for supportive methods, to address preschoolers' picky eating. It also emphasizes the need for more study in low-income nations to understand the causes and long-term impacts of finicky eating on child growth and development to establish effective solutions and support systems.

 
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