Association between Picky Eating Behavior, Growth, and Dietary Practices in Preschool Children

Jisun Kim; Sukyoung Kang; Seunghee Kye

doi:10.5720/kjcn.2021.26.1.1

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Association between Picky Eating Behavior, Growth, and Dietary Practices in Preschool Children: Jisun Kim, Sukyoung Kang, Seunghee Kye; Korean Journal of Community Nutrition 2021;26(1):1-11.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5720/kjcn.2021.26.1.1
Published online: February 28, 2021

¹Nutritionist, Imae Elementary School, Seongnam, Korea

²Professor, Department of Early Childhood Educatuion, Gachon University, Seongnam, Korea

³Professor, Nutrition Education Major, Graduate School of Education, Gachon University, Seongnam, Korea

Corresponding author: Seunghee Kye, Tel: +82-31-750-5507, Fax: +82-31-750-8683,
Email: shkye@gachon.ac.kr

Received: 11 September 2020 • Revised: 18 January 2021 • Accepted: 18 January 2021

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Abstract

Objectives
This study was conducted to assess the eating behavior, growth, and dietary practices of children aged 3~5 years living in the Seoul and Gyeonggi Provinces. Methods: Self-administered questionnaires were completed by 237 mothers of preschool children between April and June 2018. Z-scores for weight-for-age, height-for-age, and BMI-for-age were calculated to determine the children’s growth status. Dietary practices were evaluated using the nutrition quotient for Korean preschoolers (NQ-P). Results: In our study, 29.5% of children were in the eating-small-amounts group, 46.8% of children were in the neophobic behavior group, and 61.2% of children were in the refusal-of-specific food group. Specific foods found to have a high frequency of rejection are listed in descending order as follows: shellfish, soy, mushroom, shrimp, vegetables, milk, eggs, yogurt, seaweed, meat, fruits, and fish. The eating-smallamounts group had lower Z-scores for weight-for-age, height-for-age, and BMI-for-age than the non-picky eaters’ group. Compared to the non-picky eaters' group, the eatingsmall-amounts group of picky eaters had lower scores on the moderation and environment items of the NQ-P, the neophobic behavior group had lower scores on the balance and environment items of the NQ-P, and the refusal-of-specific food group had lower scores on the balance, moderation, and environment items of the NQ-P. Conclusions: Children classified with picky eating behavior had lower growth and development, lower diet diversity, less balanced food intake, and had greater difficulty in abstaining from eating unhealthy foods than non-picky eaters. Therefore, a lot of patience and intensive efforts are needed to encourage children to encounter, experience, and accept unfamiliar food. It is more effective to provide eating behavior guidance by gently encouraging children, than by being strict and forceful. Besides, since the eating behavior of children is influenced maximally by the dietary lifestyle at their homes, it is important to ensure that a healthy dietary lifestyle is maintained at home.

Keywords: picky eating; growth; preschool children; NQ-P

Korean J Community Nutr. 2021 Feb;26(1):1-11. Korean.
Published online Feb 28, 2021.
https://doi.org/10.5720/kjcn.2021.26.1.1

Original Article

Association between Picky Eating Behavior, Growth, and Dietary Practices in Preschool Children

Jisun Kim

,¹ Sukyoung Kang

,² and Seunghee Kye

Author information

Author notes

- ¹Nutritionist, Imae Elementary School, Seongnam, Korea.
- ²Professor, Department of Early Childhood Educatuion, Gachon University, Seongnam, Korea.
- ³Professor, Nutrition Education Major, Graduate School of Education, Gachon University, Seongnam, Korea.
Corresponding author: Seunghee Kye. Nutrition Education Major, Graduate School of Education, Gachon University, 1342, Seongnamdaero, Sugeong-gu, Seongam-si Gyeonggi-do 13120, Korea. Tel: +82-31-750-5507, Fax: +82-31-750-8683, Email: shkye@gachon.ac.kr

Received September 11, 2020; Revised January 18, 2021; Accepted January 18, 2021.

This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Objectives

This study was conducted to assess the eating behavior, growth, and dietary practices of children aged 3~5 years living in the Seoul and Gyeonggi Provinces.

Methods

Self-administered questionnaires were completed by 237 mothers of preschool children between April and June 2018. Z-scores for weight-for-age, height-for-age, and BMI-for-age were calculated to determine the children's growth status. Dietary practices were evaluated using the nutrition quotient for Korean preschoolers (NQ-P).

Results

In our study, 29.5% of children were in the eating-small-amounts group, 46.8% of children were in the neophobic behavior group, and 61.2% of children were in the refusal-of-specific food group. Specific foods found to have a high frequency of rejection are listed in descending order as follows: shellfish, soy, mushroom, shrimp, vegetables, milk, eggs, yogurt, seaweed, meat, fruits, and fish. The eating-small-amounts group had lower Z-scores for weight-for-age, height-for-age, and BMI-for-age than the non-picky eaters' group. Compared to the non-picky eaters' group, the eating-small-amounts group of picky eaters had lower scores on the moderation and environment items of the NQ-P, the neophobic behavior group had lower scores on the balance and environment items of the NQ-P, and the refusal-of-specific food group had lower scores on the balance, moderation, and environment items of the NQ-P.

Conclusions

Children classified with picky eating behavior had lower growth and development, lower diet diversity, less balanced food intake, and had greater difficulty in abstaining from eating unhealthy foods than non-picky eaters. Therefore, a lot of patience and intensive efforts are needed to encourage children to encounter, experience, and accept unfamiliar food. It is more effective to provide eating behavior guidance by gently encouraging children, than by being strict and forceful. Besides, since the eating behavior of children is influenced maximally by the dietary lifestyle at their homes, it is important to ensure that a healthy dietary lifestyle is maintained at home.

Keywords

picky eating; growth; preschool children; NQ-P

Figures

Fig. 1
The proportion of picky eaters

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Fig. 2
The proportion of children who usually refused a specific food group.

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Tables

Table 1
Characteristics of children aged 3 to 5 years and their mothers

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Table 2
Comparison of growth status between picky eaters and non-picky eaters by picky criteria

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Table 3
The distribution of 4 groups of NQ-P score and type of picky eating behavior

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Table 4
Comparison of NQ-P score between picky eaters and non-picky eaters

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