Although restrictive eating behaviors are very common during early childhood, their precise nature and clinical correlates remain unclear. Especially, there is little evidence on restrictive eating behaviors in older children and their associations with children's shape concern. The present population-based study sought to delineate subgroups of restrictive eating patterns in N = 799 7-14 year old children. Using Latent Class Analysis, children were classified based on six restrictive eating behaviors (for example, picky eating, food neophobia, and eating-related anxiety) and shape concern, separately in three age groups. For cluster validation, sociodemographic and objective anthropometric data, parental feeding practices, and general and eating disorder psychopathology were used. The results showed a 3-cluster solution across all age groups: an asymptomatic class (Cluster 1), a class with restrictive eating behaviors without shape concern (Cluster 2), and a class showing restrictive eating behaviors with prominent shape concern (Cluster 3). The clusters differed in all variables used for validation. Particularly, the proportion of children with symptoms of avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder was greater in Cluster 2 than Clusters 1 and 3. The study underlined the importance of considering shape concern to distinguish between different phenotypes of children's restrictive eating patterns. Longitudinal data are needed to evaluate the clusters' predictive effects on children's growth and development of clinical eating disorders.

Sensory Food Aversions occur frequently in children who are likely to appear on Speech-Language Pathologist’s (SLP’s) caseloads. The lack of research regarding intervention for Sensory Food Aversions in schools and the assertion of a gap in school-based services for children with feeding disorders was a significant indicator for the need of the study. A quantitative, descriptive, exploratory research design was selected using a self-developed questionnaire in order to exploreschool-based SLP’s perceptions of their knowledge and skills related to Sensory Food Aversions, as well as determine resources available for working with this population. Findings from the study suggest a need for educational training, emphasize the advocacy role of an SLP, and shed light on the challenges/barriers SLPs face in regard to treating Sensory Food Aversions in schools. This study may be useful for SLPs in order to meet the needs of children with Sensory Food Aversions.

Although case studies in avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) indicate severe nutritional deficiencies in those with a highly limited amount or variety of food intake, systematic analyses on food intake in treatment-seeking children and adolescents with ARFID are lacking. Within this study, n = 20 patients with an interview-based diagnosis of ARFID (0–17 years) were included and compared to n = 20 healthy controls individually matched for age and sex. Children or parents completed three-day food diaries and a food list. Macronutrient, vitamin, and mineral supply was determined based on the percentage of their recommended intake. The results showed a significantly lower total energy and protein intake in ARFID versus controls, with trends for lower fat and carbohydrate intake. ARFID subtypes of limited amount versus variety of food intake significantly differed in macro-, but not micronutrient intake. Those with ARFID met only 20–30% of the recommended intake for most vitamins and minerals, with significantly lower intake relative to controls for vitamin B1, B2, C, K, zinc, iron, and potassium. Variety of food intake was significantly reduced in ARFID versus controls in all food groups except carbohydrates. This study demonstrated that ARFID goes along with reduced everyday life macro- and micronutrient intake, which may increase the risk for developmental and health problems. Future studies additionally assessing serum nutrient levels in a larger sample may further explore differences in food intake across diverse ARFID presentations.

Objective: Little epidemiological evidence exists on rumination disorder behavior (RB) and pica behavior (PB). We examined prevalence of RB and PB and presence of comorbid feeding/eating disorder symptoms among school-aged children. Methods: In elementary schools in Switzerland, 1,430 children (54.0% female) ages seven to 13 completed Eating Disorder Examination-Questionnaire for children (ChEDE-Q) and Eating Disturbances in Youth Questionnaire (EDY-Q). Results: EDY-Q data behavior frequency showed 9.7% reported RB only, 10.0% reported PB only, and 3.1% reported RB+PB (≥1 on 0-6 Likert scale). At a clinical cut-off score of ≥4 (at least “often true”), 1.7% had RB only, 3.8% had PB only, and 1.1% had RB+PB. Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder symptoms were most common in those with RB+PB, and more common in those with RB or PB than those without. Degree of eating disorder symptoms (by ChEDE-Q) over the past 28 days were similar among those with RB, PB, or RB+PB, but less common in those without RB or PB. Discussion: RB and PB were commonly reported in our sample of school-aged children, even at a potential clinically significant cut-off. Our findings also suggest that degree of eating disorder symptom comorbidity is similar between those with RB and PB.

Objective: Little epidemiological evidence exists on rumination disorder behavior (RB) and pica behavior (PB). We examined prevalence of RB and PB and presence of comorbid feeding/eating disorder symptoms among school-aged children. Methods: In elementary schools in Switzerland, 1,430 children (54.0% female) ages seven to 13 completed Eating Disorder Examination-Questionnaire for children (ChEDE-Q) and Eating Disturbances in Youth Questionnaire (EDY-Q). Results: EDY-Q data behavior frequency showed 9.7% reported RB only, 10.0% reported PB only, and 3.1% reported RB+PB (≥1 on 0-6 Likert scale). At a clinical cut-off score of ≥4 (at least “often true”), 1.7% had RB only, 3.8% had PB only, and 1.1% had RB+PB. Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder symptoms were most common in those with RB+PB, and more common in those with RB or PB than those without. Degree of eating disorder symptoms (by ChEDE-Q) over the past 28 days were similar among those with RB, PB, or RB+PB, but less common in those without RB or PB. Discussion: RB and PB were commonly reported in our sample of school-aged children, even at a potential clinically significant cut-off. Our findings also suggest that degree of eating disorder symptom comorbidity is similar between those with RB and PB.