Eating Behaviors of Late and Moderately Preterm Infants at Two Years of Age and Their Associations With Mothers' Mental Health.

Objectives: Preterm infants are at high risk for nutritional difficulties during the neonatal period and early childhood. Long-term nutritional difficulties contribute to unbalanced food intake and growth disorders and are the source of major emotional stress for the family. The aim of this study is to investigate the eating problems of late and moderately preterm (LMPT) infants at the age of 2 years, and to examine the association of these problems with the mental status of their mothers.
Methods: In this cross-sectional study, group 1 included LMPT infants born between 32 and 36 + 6 weeks of gestation and Group 2 included term infants born between 37 and 41 + 6 weeks of gestation. Children's Nutrition Difficulties Questionnaire and 21-item Depression Anxiety and Stress Scales (DASS 21) were used for the detection of nutritional difficulties of infants and mothers' mental health status.
Results: Groups 1 and 2 were consisted of 79 LMPT and 38 term infants, respectively. Late and moderately preterm infants were found to have a lower drive-to-eat and food repertoire scores as well as lower appetite and food enjoyment than term infants. Pickiness and food neophobia were found to be higher in LMPT infants than term infants. The DASS-21 scores of the mothers of the LMPT infants were higher than those of the term ones.
Conclusions: These findings suggest that LMPT infants have more nutritional difficulties at the age of 2 years than term infants and their mothers exhibit more emotional distress than term infant's mothers.
Competing Interests: The authors report no conflicts of interest.
(Copyright © 2020 by European Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition and North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition.)