Paediatric Feeding Disorder (PFD) Diagnostic Assessments 

This month is Paediatric Feeding Disorder (PFD) awareness month. PFD is defined as impaired oral intake that is not age-appropriate, and is associated with medical, nutritional, feeding skill, and/or psychosocial dysfunction. PFD impacts 1 in 37 children under 5 years of age and is the most common childhood diagnosis (Goday et al. 2019). 

A PFD Diagnosis can only be completed by an Occupational Therapist or Speech and Language Therapist who are specialized in feeding assessment and intervention. At Nourish Feeding Therapy, we are able to diagnose Paediatric Feeding Disorder. 

Why seek a diagnosis? A diagnosis can provide whānau with some clarity and direction in their treatment of care for their child. Although we do not directly have funding (yet) associated with the diagnosis, it can open other potential funding pathways. 

What is involved in a diagnostic assessment? Your therapist will need to complete a full history, a caregiver interview and an assessment of your child eating (this can take a few sessions), before they can complete a diagnostic report identifying if the criteria for PFD has been met. The medical, nutritional, feeding skill and psychosocial domains are assessed during a PFD assessment. 

How to get started with the diagnosis process? Contact an Occupational Therapist or Speech Language Therapist who are specialized in Feeding Assessment and Intervention to undertake the diagnostic assessment. We at Nourish Feeding Therapy are one of these options! 

Goday, P. S., Huh, S. Y., Silverman, A., Lukens, C. T., Dodrill, P., Cohen, S. S., … & Phalen, J. A. (2019). Pediatric feeding disorder: consensus definition and conceptual framework. Journal of pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition, 68(1), 124.

Rebecca x