ABSTRACT
Children with paediatric feeding disorders fail to consume a sufficient quantity and variety of solids or liquids to maintain nutritional status, which may result in weight loss, malnutrition, dehydration, frequent illness, failure to thrive and, if left untreated, death. From a behavioural perspective, it is important to consider the impact of the child's medical history and the child's and family's learning history on child and parent behaviour. The age of the child, the size of the child's mouth and the child's experience with bottle feeding are important to consider when choosing a teat for bottle feeding. Treatments and interventions based on theories of operant conditioning have been reported to be effective in the management of paediatric feeding disorders. Feeding disorders can seriously compromise nutrition, growth and development in children and can have a huge impact on the quality of life for the child and family.
