Association of the onset of self-feeding with subsequent Developmental Coordination Disorder: a prospective cohort study in China

Hua, J, Williams, GJ ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7689-1231, Barnett, AL, Zhang, J, Jin, H, Xu, M, Chen, J, Zhou, Y, Gu, G and Du, W ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5115-7214, 2022. Association of the onset of self-feeding with subsequent Developmental Coordination Disorder: a prospective cohort study in China. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 13: 818771. ISSN 1664-0640

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Abstract

Background: 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.

Methods: We conducted a data-linkage prospective cohort study from 38 kindergartens in 6 cities in China. A total of 11,727 preschoolers 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.

Results: 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 months, 25-36 months, 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 p<0.05). Significant associations were observed in fine motor, gross motor, and balance subtests (each p<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.

Conclusion: The delayed onset time of self-feeding acts as an early behavioural 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.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Frontiers in Psychiatry
Creators:	Hua, J., Williams, G.J., Barnett, A.L., Zhang, J., Jin, H., Xu, M., Chen, J., Zhou, Y., Gu, G. and Du, W.
Publisher:	Frontiers Media
Date:	2022
Volume:	13
ISSN:	1664-0640
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.818771 DOI 1534512 Other
Rights:	Copyright © 2022 Hua, Williams, Barnett, Zhang, Jin, Xu, Chen, Zhou, Gu and Du. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Divisions:	Schools > School of Social Sciences
Record created by:	Laura Ward
Date Added:	05 Apr 2022 09:37
Last Modified:	11 Aug 2022 10:19
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/46052

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