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Eating Disorders

Food Refusal and Failure to Thrive

  • Chapter
Handbook of Clinical Behavioral Pediatrics

Part of the book series: Applied Clinical Psychology ((NSSB))

Abstract

Eating disorders in children and adolescents are commonly encountered in pediatric inpatient and outpatient settings and are sources of frequent parental concern. This chapter discusses two such problems: food refusal and failure to thrive. Both problems generally involve deficits in appropriate eating or weight gain and can lead to numerous medical complications. Failure to thrive and food refusal have been distinguished from one another in the literature and do in fact often differ with regard to topography and factors contributing to the maintenance of problem behavior. This chapter, however, highlights the similarities of the two disorders and suggests that a behavior analytic model of assessment is applicable to both. The practical advantages of such a model are discussed and illustrated through case examples.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 70803, USA

    Mary Lou Kelley & Robert W. Heffer

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  1. Mary Lou Kelley
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  2. Robert W. Heffer
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Mississippi, University, Mississippi, USA

    Alan M. Gross

  2. University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, Mississippi, USA

    Ronald S. Drabman

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© 1990 Plenum Press, New York

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Kelley, M.L., Heffer, R.W. (1990). Eating Disorders. In: Gross, A.M., Drabman, R.S. (eds) Handbook of Clinical Behavioral Pediatrics. Applied Clinical Psychology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0505-7_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0505-7_7

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-7840-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-0505-7

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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