The Journal of Pediatrics Publishes Prevalence Study on Pediatric Feeding Disorder.
“This issue is more pervasive than people realize and therefore may be going undiagnosed. This research tells us it is so important to listen to parents or caregivers when they are concerned about their child’s feeding," said Jaclyn Pederson, chief executive officer of Feeding Matters.
PHOENIX (PRWEB) September 09, 2020
More than one in 37 American children under the age of five annually receive a diagnosis of, and currently have, a pediatric feeding disorder (PFD), according to a new nationwide study led by The Medical College of Wisconsin in partnership with Arizona State University’s College of Health Solutions. This makes PFD more prevalent than well-known childhood conditions such as cerebral palsy and autism.
The study will be published in an upcoming issue of The Journal of Pediatrics. The research was conducted by Kovacic K, Rein, ScM LE, and Praveen S. Goday, MBBS, CNSC, FAAP, et al., and was coordinated by Feeding Matters, the first organization in the world dedicated to advancing the system of care for children with PFD.
For the study, data was obtained from over 56 million people from three insurance cohorts. (Medicaid Databases from Arizona and Wisconsin, public insurance database, and The Truven Health Analytics MarketScan Commercial Claims and Encounters Database, nationwide private insurance databases) between 2009 and 2014. This study was done using a variety of billing codes as surrogate markers for PFD as there did not exist a unifying medical code at the time.
“The findings from this study will bring the necessary attention to pediatric feeding disorder that it deserves,” said lead author Praveen S. Goday. “For years, clinicians have known how prevalent this disorder was but haven’t been able to share this in an impactful way,” Dr. Goday concluded.
Dr. Goday and his co-authors said this study, coupled with the recent announcement that there would be a Pediatric Feeding Disorder code in the next edition of the U.S. International Classification of Diseases (ICD) in October 2021, should make it easier to continue to track the prevalence of PFD and potentially enable better medical interventions for children with PFD.
“This issue is more pervasive than people realize and therefore may be going undiagnosed. This research tells us it is so important to listen to parents or caregivers when they are concerned about their child’s feeding as they often know that something is wrong before anyone else does,” said Jaclyn Pederson, chief executive officer of Feeding Matters. “If you are concerned, please take our Infant Child Feeding Questionnaire©, talk to your pediatrician about your concerns and know that Feeding Matters is here to support you in this journey,” Pederson concluded.
The complete article, “Pediatric Feeding Disorder: A Nationwide Prevalence Study,” is available online at http://www.jpeds.com. See the paper for a full list of authors and disclosures. Doi: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2020.07.047
Citation: Kovacic K, Rein, ScM LE, Bhagavatula P, Kommareddy S, Szabo A, Goday PS, Pediatric Feeding Disorder: A Nationwide Prevalence Study, The Journal of Pediatrics (2020), doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpeds.2020.07.047
About Feeding Matters
For kids with pediatric feeding disorder (PFD), every bite of food can be painful, scary, or simply impossible to swallow, potentially impeding nutrition, development, growth, and overall well-being. Yet, there is no functional system of care for PFD locally, nationally, or internationally. That’s why Feeding Matters is dedicated to creating a world where children with pediatric feeding disorder thrive. Established in 2006, Feeding Matters is the first organization in the world uniting the concerns of families with the field’s leading advocates, experts, and allied healthcare professionals to ignite unprecedented change to the system of care through advocacy, education, support, and research – including a stand-alone diagnosis, the International Pediatric Feeding Disorder Conference, and the Infant and Child Feeding Questionnaire. In 2019, Feeding Matters reached more than 140,000 individuals in 50 states and 143 countries through their programs and website. To learn more about pediatric feeding disorder, visit feedingmatters.org or follow us on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube at @FeedingMatters.
Media Contacts:
Stephanie Sanstead
Public Relations
stephanie@communicadecneco.com
602-476-9997
Jaclyn Pederson
Chief Executive Officer
Feeding Matters
jpederson@feedingmatters.org
623.242.5234 ext. 308