Abstract

This study was conducted to compare the eating habits of disabled and non-disabled children in Seoul and Gangneung, Korea. Questionnaires about eating habits were answered by the children's parents and their teachers. The subjects of this study consisted of 146 disabled children (108 boys and 38 girls) from two special education schools and 241 nondisabled children (control group, 120 boys and 121 girls) from two elementary schools in Seoul and Gangneung, respectively. The percentage of the children who required more than 30 minutes to eat was 11.3% in the disabled group and 2.5% in the non-disabled group. In the disabled group, 44.0% ate excessive amounts of food or could not control their intake. The percentage of the children whose frequency of eating breakfast was less than 1 to 2 times per week was 21.0% in the disabled group and 9.7% in the non-disabled group. Also, 7.6% of the disabled group and 13.9% of the nondisabled group had snacks more than three times per day. The percentage of children who were able to eat by themselves was lower in the disabled group (47.9%) than in the non-disabled group (87.8%). Of the remainder of the disabled group, 28.6% spilled food, and 14.3% needed the aid of others when picking up side dishes. The percentage of parents who worried about their children's eating an unbalanced diet was 48.5% in the disabled group and 41.8% in the non-disabled group. In addition, there were problems with eating behaviors in 22.7% in the disabled group ; and with under-eating (15.9%) and with excessive intake of instant foods (16.8%) in the non-disabled group. These results suggest that the eating habits and eating behaviors of disabled children are different from those of non-disabled children. Thus, nutritional educational programs and educational materials for disabled children and their parents should be developed.

• Keywords: disabled children; eating habits; eating behavior