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Tube Feeding in Infancy: Implications for the Developmentof Normal Eating and Drinking Skills

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Abstract

Tube feeding is commonly used as a method of giving children nutrition while they are being treated for disease. While this is an effective way of ensuring a child thrives and grows, research studies and clinical experience have shown that long-term oral feeding difficulties often arise when the child no longer requires tube feeding. This article gives a critical review of the literature on tube feeding and its effect on normal eating and drinking skills. While few studies have followed a rigorous research design, there is enough literature to identify a number of factors which may be implicated in later feeding difficulties and which therefore need further exploration in research studies. These factors include age at which oral feeding commences, medical complications, exposure to taste and textures during sensitive periods, aversive experiences, and different methods of delivering tube feeds.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham

    Sarah J. Mason MSc, Gillian Harris PhD, CPsychol & Jacqueline Blissett PhD, CPsychol

  2. Birmingham Children’s Hospital, Birmingham, West Midlands, United Kingdom

    Gillian Harris PhD, CPsychol

  3. Speech and Language Therapy Department, Birmingham Children’s Hospital, Steelhouse Lane, Birmingham, West Midlands, B4 6NH, UK

    Sarah J. Mason MSc

Authors
  1. Sarah J. Mason MSc
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  2. Gillian Harris PhD, CPsychol
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  3. Jacqueline Blissett PhD, CPsychol
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Correspondence to Sarah J. Mason MSc.

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Mason, S.J., Harris, G. & Blissett, J. Tube Feeding in Infancy: Implications for the Developmentof Normal Eating and Drinking Skills. Dysphagia 20, 46–61 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00455-004-0025-2

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