Helping the Child Who Won’t Eat: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Assessing and Treating Pediatric Feeding Disorders
by Kellie Hilker, Ph.D. 3 CE Credits
Description:
All children go through periods of poor oral intake and picky eating; however, severe food refusal and selectivity can negatively impact a child’s health and development. Feeding disorders have a variety of presentations that could include total refusal of oral feeding with complete dependence on gastrostomy tube feedings, or a selective diet including only one or two foods a child may eat. Multiple factors may be related to the onset of a feeding disorder including illness, inability to chew and swallow, and behavioral mismanagement during meals. Due to the multiple causal factors and the interaction between these factors, children with severe food refusal and food selectivity present with a host of challenges to assessment and treatment. An interdisciplinary team involving physicians, nurses, nutritionists, speech and occupational therapists, and psychologists is crucial to successfully assess children with feeding disorders. This course will present an interdisciplinary approach necessary to develop and implement effective interventions for children with pediatric feeding disorders.
Learning Objectives:
After completing this course, health professionals will be able to:
- Recognize and describe the three major etiological categories of pediatric feeding disorders.
- Describe the five potential components of a thorough interdisciplinary assessment for children with pediatric feeding disorders and the six disciplines that comprise the core group of professionals for such an evaluation.
- Identify two interventions for pediatric feeding disorders that are empirically supported.
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