Association of the Onset of Self-Feeding With Subsequent Suspected Developmental Coordination Disorder: A Prospective Cohort Study in China

• Published in: Frontiers in psychiatry Vol. 13; p. 818771
• Main Authors: Hua, Jing, Williams, Gareth J, Barnett, Anna L, Zhang, Jiajia, Jin, Hua, Xu, Manyun, Chen, Juan, Zhou, Yingchun, Gu, Guixiong, Du, Wenchong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland Frontiers Media S.A 06-05-2022
• Subjects: developmental coordination disorder; early behavioral marker; preschool children; Psychiatry; self-feeding; two-child families; preschool children; two-child families; self-feeding; developmental coordination disorder; early behavioral marker
• ISSN: 1664-0640; 1664-0640
• DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.818771

Successful self-feeding reflects the readiness of early motor development and environmental impacts, and the onset of self-feeding as a developmental milestone might be a predictor of subsequent motor development in children. In this study, we explored the association between the onset of self-feeding and childhood risk of Developmental Coordination Disorder in children from one-child and two-child families.
We conducted a data-linkage prospective cohort study from 38 kindergartens in 6 cities in China. A total of 11,727 preschoolers aged 3-6 years old were included in the final analysis and were assessed with the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-second edition (MABC-2) Test. The information on early self-feeding onset was obtained from parents. The mixed and multi-level logistic models utilizing a random intercept were used to investigate the associations between the onset time of self-feeding and subsequent motor performance.
The results showed that, compared with those beginning self-feeding at or younger than 12 months of age, children starting self-feeding at 13-24, 25-36, and later than 36 months, showed a decrease in their total MABC-2 scores of 2.181, 3.026, and 3.874, respectively; and had an increased risk of suspected DCD by 36.0, 101.6, 102.6%, respectively; they also had 30.2, 46.6, 71.2% increased prevalence of at risk of suspected DCD, when adjusting for both child and family characteristics (each
< 0.05). Significant associations were observed in fine motor, gross motor, and balance subtests (each
< 0.05) in groups with a delayed onset of self-feeding. However, the strength of the associations was mitigated in the fine motor and balance subtests in children with a sibling.
The delayed onset time of self-feeding acts as an early behavioral marker for later childhood motor impairment. Moreover, children with a sibling may benefit from additional interaction and their motor developmental pattern may be affected by the presence of a sibling.