[Factors related to eating behaviors in early childhood: Relationships between autistic tendency, sensory characteristics, and childcare environment].

Objective　The objective of this study was to examine the influence of environmental factors on eating behaviors of children.Method　The participants were the caregivers of 1,678 children attending nursery schools or kindergartens in two different cities of a prefecture. We distributed several self-administered questionnaires to the caregivers in conjunction with collaborating organizations. The participants returned the questionnaires either to collection boxes placed at the collaborating organizations facilities or by mailing them. The questionnaires included assessment of the child's basic attributes, caregiver assessments of eating behaviors, the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) measure of autistic traits, the Japanese Sensory Inventory-Revised (JSI-R), and the Index of Child Care Environment (ICCE). We conducted a chi-square (χ2 ) test, Fisher's exact test, and a multiple regression analysis.Results　We received responses from 843 participants (response rate=50.4%), and of those, 583 were considered valid (34.7%). The mean number of problematic eating behaviors for each child as perceived by the caregivers was 2.43±2.26. In general, caregivers thought that about 40% of the children had an unbalanced diet and about 30% had a problem of "not being able to sit still." The multiple regression analysis showed that the number of problematic eating behaviors was significantly and positively affected by the SRS T-score total (β=0.188, P<0.001), sense of taste (β=0.319, P<0.001) and auditory sense (β=0.168, P<0.001) in JSI-R. A positive relationship was found between the environmental factors of human stimulation (β=0.096, P=0.010) and social support (β=0.085, P=0.022). A negative relationship was found between sense of smell (β=-0.108, P=0.013), number of siblings (β=-0.100, P=0.005), age (β=-0.077, P=0.029), and sex (β=-0.091, P=0.010).Conclusion　Our study results showed that having an unbalanced diet and "not being able to sit still" were typical features of eating behaviors. The number of problematic eating behaviors was associated with personal factors such as autistic tendency and sensory characteristics, and also with environmental factors, such as human stimulation and social support. Our findings show the importance of evaluating all relevant factors when dietary guidance is provided in the treatment of problematic eating behaviors.