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Eating Disorders in Infants and Toddlers

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Hidden and Lesser-known Disordered Eating Behaviors in Medical and Psychiatric Conditions

Abstract

Adequate feeding represents an important function of regulation during childhood. Early, transient feeding problems are common among normally developing infants. Paediatricians and child neuropsychiatrists should recognize enduring feeding difficulties, since they cause negative effects on children’s growth and development. Feeding disorders (FD) might be the result of a lack of balance among parents’ feeding style, organic causes and child behaviour. FD present a clinical spectrum from mild to severe. Among FD, avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) represents a newly introduced diagnosis in the DSM-5. Patients with ARFID present restrictive eating behaviour, persistent difficulty in meeting nutritional needs, in the absence of body image disturbances. FD, as selective or scarce feeding, may represent a warning early sign suggesting an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Children with ASD are five times more likely to manifest FD than their peers. The management of children with FD requires collaborative care of a multi-professional team. At the present time, behavioural therapy is the mainly supported treatment for FD in childhood.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. IRCCS Istituto delle Scienze Neurologiche di Bologna, Centro Regionale per i Disturbi della Nutrizione e dell’Alimentazione in Età Evolutiva, Child Neurology and Psychiatry Unit, Bologna, Italy

    Antonia Parmeggiani & Jacopo Pruccoli

  2. Dipartimento di Scienze Mediche e Chirurgiche (DIMEC), Università di Bologna, Bologna, Italy

    Antonia Parmeggiani & Jacopo Pruccoli

Authors
  1. Antonia Parmeggiani
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  2. Jacopo Pruccoli
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Antonia Parmeggiani .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Private Hospital "Salus" of Ferrara, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy

    Emilia Manzato

  2. Formerly Sapienza University of Rome, Founding Editor of Eating and Weight Disorders, Campiglia Marittima, Livorno, Italy

    Massimo Cuzzolaro

  3. Experimental Medicine Department, Sapienza University of Rome, Editor-in-Chief of Eating and Weight Disorders, Roma, Roma, Italy

    Lorenzo Maria Donini

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Parmeggiani, A., Pruccoli, J. (2022). Eating Disorders in Infants and Toddlers. In: Manzato, E., Cuzzolaro, M., Donini, L.M. (eds) Hidden and Lesser-known Disordered Eating Behaviors in Medical and Psychiatric Conditions . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-81174-7_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-81174-7_2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-81174-7

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