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Open research questions in Child Nutrition and Feeding Issues

255 gap statements mined from Child Nutrition and Feeding Issues papers in our 7.9M-paper local library, which holds 1,415 papers on the topic — drawn mostly from each paper's own stated research gap, future-work, challenge and limitation notes, and its abstract. The ones listed below are a selection still marked open; each names the study that raised it, with a DOI link where the paper has one.

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What the literature leaves open

  • The relationship between sleep disturbances and feeding problems in children and adolescents with ASD has seldom been studied. There is a lack of understanding of the factors associated with sleep disturbances in individuals with ASD. The study aims to fill this gap by examining the association between sleep disturbances and feeding problems.

    Association Between Sleep Disturbance and Behavioral Feeding Problems in Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder · 2025 · DOI

  • Further studies are needed to explore the relationship between the Mediterranean diet and IL-6 levels in individuals with ASD. Research should investigate the effects of the Mediterranean diet on other inflammatory markers in ASD. Studies should examine the potential benefits of the Mediterranean diet on mental health outcomes in ASD.

    Autistic Children/Adolescents Have Lower Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet and Higher Salivary IL-6 Concentration: Potential Diet–Inflammation Links? · 2024 · DOI

  • There is a lack of studies analyzing the role of the Mediterranean diet in relation to salivary IL-6 levels in individuals with ASD. The study aims to fill this gap by exploring the relationship between the Mediterranean diet and salivary IL-6 levels in children with ASD.

    Autistic Children/Adolescents Have Lower Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet and Higher Salivary IL-6 Concentration: Potential Diet–Inflammation Links? · 2024 · DOI

  • Future research should focus on developing effective early identification and intervention strategies for eating disorders in childhood. Future research should investigate the role of family and school contexts in the development and prevention of eating disorders.

    Identificação precoce e intervenção dos transtornos alimentares na infância: uma revisão sistematizada do papel da escola e da família · 2026 · DOI

  • There is a need for early identification and intervention strategies for eating disorders in childhood. The existing literature lacks a comprehensive review of the risk factors and early manifestations of eating disorders in childhood.

    Identificação precoce e intervenção dos transtornos alimentares na infância: uma revisão sistematizada do papel da escola e da família · 2026 · DOI

  • Individuals with eating disorders may experience heightened sensitivity to sensory experiences, leading to anxiety and avoidance. The sensory properties of cutlery can be complex and multifaceted, making it challenging to identify the most important characteristics. There is a need for further research on the relationship between cutlery preferences and eating disorder symptoms.

    Exploring sensory aspects of cutlery in neurodivergent-informed eating disorder care · 2026 · DOI

  • The role of nonfood objects, such as cutlery, in shaping eating experiences has been largely overlooked. Prior research has focused primarily on food texture, taste, and olfactory cues, as well as environmental factors. There is a need for further research on the sensory properties of cutlery in eating disorder care.

    Exploring sensory aspects of cutlery in neurodivergent-informed eating disorder care · 2026 · DOI

  • Limited treatment options for ASD. Inconsistent evidence for CAT approaches. Small sample sizes and methodological limitations in prior studies.

    Complementary and Alternative Treatments for Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Comprehensive Review · 2026 · DOI

  • The role of father involvement in complementary feeding practices remains insufficiently synthesized. There is a need to examine the relationship between father involvement and children’s nutritional status.

    Father Involvement in Complementary Feeding Practices and Nutritional Status among Children Aged 6–24 Months: A Systematic Review Based on Friedman Family Theory · 2026 · DOI

  • Future research should focus on developing effective intervention strategies for managing picky eating in children. Studies should investigate the long-term consequences of picky eating on nutritional status, psychosocial development, and family dynamics.

    Picky eating: Narrative review of a common challenge inpediatrics · 2026 · DOI

  • There is a need for a comprehensive and interdisciplinary approach to managing picky eating in children. The current literature lacks a clear understanding of the definition, assessment, risk factors, and intervention strategies for picky eating.

    Picky eating: Narrative review of a common challenge inpediatrics · 2026 · DOI

  • The study acknowledges the lack of historical child health feeding records for cross-verification. The study notes the potential for inter-investigator bias, which was mitigated by using trained pediatric clinicians and fixed questioning scripts.

    Association between the timing of chewable complementary food introduction and functional speech disorders in children: a case-control study · 2026 · DOI

  • The existing literature lacks quantification of the magnitude of the association between chewable food introduction timing and FSD risk. The study aims to establish the independence of the association after adjusting for a comprehensive set of confounders.

    Association between the timing of chewable complementary food introduction and functional speech disorders in children: a case-control study · 2026 · DOI

  • There is a lack of studies focusing on the effectiveness of nutritional interventions for parents of preschool children. There is a need for further studies on the effectiveness of nutritional interventions in different populations and settings.

    Intervenções nutricionais, conhecimento nutricional e habilidades culinárias em pais de crianças: Revisão de escopo · 2026 · DOI

  • The lack of a reliable and valid instrument to assess mealtime behaviors in children with ASD. The need for an instrument that captures a broader range of clinically relevant mealtime behaviors.

    Development of Autism Mealtime Behavior Questionnaire for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder · 2026 · DOI

  • There is a lack of understanding of the relationship between food selectivity and gastrointestinal symptoms in children with autism spectrum disorder. The study aims to fill this gap by examining the association between food selectivity and gastrointestinal symptom severity.

    Food Selectivity as a Driver of Gastrointestinal Symptoms and Constipation in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder · 2026 · DOI

  • Further studies incorporating objective paraclinical assessments to confirm the diagnosis are warranted to better determine the clinical characteristics and risk factors of FR among infants younger than 18 months.

    Prevalence, Clinical Characteristics, and Risk Factors of Food Regurgitation in Infants Younger than 18 Months: A Population-Based Study in Tehran, Iran · 2026 · DOI

  • The relationship between food allergy and ARFID is puzzlingly understudied despite food allergy clearly altering the individual's relationship with food, posing continuous danger, and requiring persistent, fundamental eating changes to maintain safety.

    When Medically Required Food Avoidance Goes Awry: A Conceptual Framework of ARFID as an Underrecognized Clinical Complication of Food Allergy · 2026 · DOI

  • Cognitive-behavioral therapy for ARFID (CBT-AR) has demonstrated preliminary efficacy in open trials, but no studies have examined its effectiveness in real-world settings.

    Effectiveness of Virtually Delivered Cognitive‐Behavioral Therapy for Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder · 2026 · DOI

  • Caregivers of children with PFD are at risk for poor mental health outcomes, but there is limited research on the unique strengths that caregivers develop or leverage to help navigate the stress of caring for a child with PFD.

    Strengths in caregivers of children with pediatric feeding disorder: a scoping review · 2026 · DOI

  • The study is a secondary analysis of data collected from two independent cohorts. The study only examined cross-sectional associations between household chaos and appetitive traits. Longitudinal and experimental studies are needed to clarify temporality and underlying mechanisms. The study primarily included higher-SES families.

    Associations between household chaos and appetitive traits in preschoolers and preadolescents · 2026 · DOI

  • The mechanisms by which household chaos relates to childhood obesity risk are unclear. Prior research has not fully examined the associations between household chaos and appetitive traits in preschoolers and preadolescents.

    Associations between household chaos and appetitive traits in preschoolers and preadolescents · 2026 · DOI

  • The review was limited to studies published in English. The sample size of the studies was small, ranging from 6 to 146 parent-child pairs. The studies had varying methodological quality, which may have affected the results.

    Intervenções nutricionais, conhecimento nutricional e habilidades culinárias em pais de crianças: Revisão de escopo · 2026 · DOI

  • Children with neurological disorders often have difficulty obtaining age-appropriate feeding skills and need more feeding practice. The study had to control for various factors that could influence the relationship between child-related factors and parents' fear of feeding. The study had to ensure the reliability and validity of the Fear of Feeding My Child-A Parental Report scale.

    Factors associated with fear of feeding in parents of children with neurological disorders: a cross-sectional study · 2026 · DOI

  • Crucially, recent studies are shifting focus to predictive biomarkers, showing that improvement correlates with changes…

    Medical treatment of autism spectrum disorder in children: Current evidence, controversies, and clinical challenges · 2026 · DOI

Most-cited papers in Child Nutrition and Feeding Issues

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Open questions raised by papers listed on this page include: (1) Future research should focus on developing effective early identification and intervention strategies for eating disorders in childhood (“Identificação precoce e intervenção dos transtornos alimentares na infância:…”, 2026); (2) There is a need for further research on the relationship between cutlery preferences and eating disorder symptoms (“Exploring sensory aspects of cutlery in neurodivergent-informed eating disorder…”, 2026); (3) There is a need to examine the relationship between father involvement and children’s nutritional status (“Father Involvement in Complementary Feeding Practices and Nutritional Status…”, 2026); (4) Future research should focus on developing effective intervention strategies for managing picky eating in children (“Picky eating: Narrative review of a common challenge inpediatrics”, 2026); (5) The study acknowledges the lack of historical child health feeding records for cross-verification (“Association between the timing of chewable complementary food introduction and…”, 2026). 255 gap statements have been mined from Child Nutrition and Feeding Issues papers in our 7.9M-paper local library, which holds 1,415 papers on the topic; the gaps come from whichever of those papers state one. They are mostly the research gaps the authors state and the papers' abstracts, plus future-work, limitations and challenges passages. The ones listed below are a selection still marked open; each names the study that raised it, with a DOI link where the paper has one, so you can read the original claim in context.

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