Schwartz J L, Niman C W, Gisel E G
Am J Occup Ther. 1984 Mar;38(3):171-5. doi: 10.5014/ajot.38.3.171.
Eating movements in the preschool child undergo change between the ages of 2 and 5 years. There is a lack of objective clinical data from normal children against which eating movements of feeding-impaired children can be compared. In this study, chewing movements were measured to complement tongue movements described in an earlier study. The movements were monitored in 40 children: 20 were four years old and 20 were five years old. Each group had ten boys and ten girls. Chewing movements were measured by time (sec), number of cycles, and a time/cycle ratio. A chewing cycle was defined as an upward and downward movement of the chin. Total time from the moment food was placed in the mouth until the final swallow occurred was divided by the number of cycles counted for the same period. Age and sex did not affect time, cycles, or the time/cycle ratio. However, the measures were strongly affected by the type of food eaten. These findings suggest that the texture of food strongly influences both the number of chewing cycles performed and the time used for chewing. The occupational therapist administering eating evaluations to children should carefully choose the foods offered for initial evaluations and use the same food consistently during re-evaluations.
学龄前儿童的进食动作在2至5岁之间会发生变化。目前缺乏正常儿童的客观临床数据，无法用于与喂养障碍儿童的进食动作进行比较。在本研究中，对咀嚼动作进行了测量，以补充早期一项研究中描述的舌头动作。对40名儿童的动作进行了监测：20名儿童4岁，20名儿童5岁。每组有10名男孩和10名女孩。咀嚼动作通过时间（秒）、循环次数和时间/循环比来测量。一个咀嚼循环定义为下巴的一次上下运动。从食物放入口中到最后吞咽发生的总时间除以同一时期计数的循环次数。年龄和性别不影响时间、循环次数或时间/循环比。然而，这些测量结果受到所吃食物类型的强烈影响。这些发现表明，食物的质地强烈影响咀嚼循环的次数和咀嚼所用的时间。对儿童进行进食评估的职业治疗师应仔细选择用于初始评估的食物，并在重新评估期间始终使用相同的食物。
