Peer-reviewed article
Standardization of the Japanese Pediatric Eating Assessment Tool (PediEAT-J): Age-based Norms, Developmental Trajectories and a Clinical Cut-off for Early Screening.
Nakamura T, Fujimoto J, Ayuzawa K, Onoue F, Kaneoka A et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study standardized a screening tool for feeding and swallowing difficulties in Japanese children aged 6 to 77 months, using data from 697 children. Researchers established age-based norms and identified how different feeding problems vary across early childhood. The tool achieved good accuracy for identifying children with feeding difficulties. These norms enable early detection of feeding problems in the Japanese population.
Key points
- Developmental patterns show physiologic symptoms decrease after 12 months, while problematic mealtime behaviors peak at 30-36 months
- Selective/restrictive eating is most common during early weaning; oral processing difficulties are highest at 15-18 months
- Receiver operating characteristic analysis showed area under the curve of 0.835 with sensitivity of 0.74 and specificity of 0.84
- Study included 662 typically developing children and 35 children with identified feeding problems
- First age-stratified norms for feeding assessment in Japanese population
Limitations
The study establishes norms and screening accuracy but does not evaluate whether using this screening tool in practice leads to better outcomes for children. The sample includes a small proportion of children with feeding problems (35 out of 697), which may limit generalizability to other clinical populations.
Abstract
Feeding and swallowing difficulties in early childhood can significantly impact growth and family well-being. Currently, Japan lacks specific screening norms for these issues. To address this gap, we standardized the Japanese version of the Pediatric Eating Assessment Tool (PediEAT-J) and established a clinical cut-off based on caregiver data from 697 children aged 6 to 77 months. Among these, 662 children were typically developing (TD), and 35 had identified feeding problems. Descriptive statistics were calculated for the TD group, with raw scores converted into T-scores (mean = 50, SD = 10). Developmental patterns varied across subscales: Physiologic Symptoms decreased significantly after 12 months; Problematic Mealtime Behaviors peaked at 30-36 months; Selective/Restrictive Eating was most common during early weaning; and Oral Processing was highest at 15-18 months. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis yielded an area under the curve of 0.835, with optimal cut-offs of 0.74 for sensitivity and 0.84 for specificity. These findings provide the first age-stratified norms for the Japanese population and enable rapid, culturally relevant screening for feeding risks, facilitating early interventions and cross-cultural comparisons in feeding development.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- Standardization of the Japanese Pediatric Eating Assessment Tool (PediEAT-J) with established age-based norms and clinical cut-offs for screening
- Population
- Children aged 6 to 77 months in Japan (662 typically developing children and 35 with identified feeding problems)
Key finding
ROC analysis yielded area under the curve of 0.835 with optimal sensitivity of 0.74 and specificity of 0.84