Examination of children and families aged between 2 and 10 years with poor appetite and evaluation of post-training results by giving healthy nutrition education

Poor appetite is a common problem in childhood and it is also common for pediatricians to apply. It is essential to monitor the growth and development of the child by giving nutrition and behavior advice to the parents in a poor appetite without organic disease. In this study, it was aimed to show that the nutritional advices given to the family helped the child to improve his appetite and it was aimed to provide the healthy nutrition of the children and to eliminate the anxieties of families. Ninty six children between 2-10 years old who has a poor appetite due to non-organic disease admitted pediatrics polyclinic of T.C Ministry of Health DPU Kütahya Evliya Çelebi Training and Research Hospital were enrolled in the study. Children's height, weight, body mass index (BMI) were measured at the arrival of the children and their feeding characteristics were questioned through questionnaires. Children's three-day dietry records were taken from the parents and the height, weight, BMI energy and protein intake were compared with those after two months behavior modification. It was learned that 84,3% of the families can apply the nurition advices and 79% of these families benefit from the advices. A statistically significant increase in height, weight, BMI and calorie values at the end of the study was detected according to the values of the children at the beginning of the study. Protein values were not significantly increased. When evaluated acoording to age groups, it was determined that nutritional advices are applicable and useful especially in children under 8 years of age. It was found that the average caloric value of the children taken at the beginning of the study calculated was lower 25% than the amount required according to the age and that is compatible with the maternal reported appetite. As a result, in the case of loss of appetite due to non-organic disease behavior modification has been found to be beneficial, especially in children under 8 years of age. Key words: Poor appetite, feeding problems, feeding principles, energy intake