Survey of Eating Habits of Children with Special Needs

Abstract

Before long, it will be clear if parents wholly accept children requiring special care and moreover, the solution of parents affects the quality of eating habits of children. Research has been done concerning eating habits of two groups of mothers and their children who go to two different types of schools for children with special needs. One school provided a support system for mothers to help them accept their children as they are. The other school emphasized education and training rather than the acceptance of children. The results showed great differences among individuals' nutrients intake in both schools. As shown in the data, there are two different types of nutrient intake among the children; one comprises too much intake and other very little. Even though consumption patterns are different in these two groups, they all have a common problem: their food intake is unbalanced, or they consume very little of specific nutrients within their entire diet. Also, they tend to repeat the same eating patterns. Appropriate eating habits of children with special needs were suggested as follows: 1) Special individual care for each child. 2) In order to maintain stable eating habits, it is also important to maintain the health of care givers. 3) It is best to upgrade the eating habits without putting a strain on the children. 4) Assistance from the schools is consequential for those mothers so that they can easily accept their children. Once mothers accept their offsprings using the support system, they are able to feel secure mentally. Such parental confidence affects eating enviroment of the children with special needs. These facts lead to improvement of the quality of eating habits of such children.