Eating disorders in children under 5 years of age and their relationship to family function

Abstract

Introduction: Eating disorders in children under 5 years of age can cause alterations in development and growth. They can be associated with disorders of family functionality. Objectives: To describe non-organic eating disorders in children under 5 years of age and their association with family functionality in a secondlevel hospital in Puebla, Mexico. Methods: Descriptive and cross-sectional study, in which children under 5 years of age with non-organic eating disorders were included. Parents who previously signed informed consent were given the IMFED tool to study eating disorders and FACES III to describe family functionality. Descriptive statistics and Spearman's coefficient were used. Results: 105 patients were evaluated, of which 57 were men and 48 women. The mean age was 30.42 months minimum 2, maximum 60, ± 16.68 months. The predominant age group was 12-23 months. 45.71% of parents reported chaotic family adaptability, and 39.04% related cohesion. The most common eating disorder was sensory food aversions. More than 60% had two or more eating disorders. The correlation between family and eating disorders adaptability was 0.248 (p = 0.011), and cohesion between familiar and eating disorder was 0,87 (p =0,38). Conclusions: The most frequent eating disorders were sensory aversion to food and infantile anorexia. They are slightly correlated with family adaptability. They are more frequent in families with chaotic adaptability. Children under 5 years of age with two or more eating disorders are the most frequent.