ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on medical and nursing approaches to feeding problems through exploration of the involvement of doctors and nurses as they collaborate in the assessment and treatment of children with a range of feeding difficulties. It discusses the role of the paediatrician in coordinating information, conducting investigations, making diagnoses and prescribing certain types of treatment. About 25%-40% of infants and toddlers are reported by their caregivers to have feeding problems. Although most of these difficulties are transient, they become persistent in 3%-10% of the children, and these are the cases that bring families into contact with medical professionals. Growth charts, also known as centile charts, are often used by both health professionals and parents as an indicator of a child's nutritional status and general well being. Nursing assessment produces information that is used to identify the child and family's need for and response to nursing care.
