LA Daniels

Objective: To investigate parents’ perceptions of the eating behaviour of toddlers born preterm. Methods: A mailed, self‐administered questionnaire was sent to parents of infants born between July 1994 and July 1996 with gestational ages less than 32 weeks who had been admitted to the Neonatal Unit at Flinders Medical Centre. Results: Responses were received for 95 subjects (response rate 70%) with a mean ± SD gestational age of 29.2 ± 2.1 weeks, birthweight of 1243 ± 296 g and median corrected age of 134 weeks (range 84–185 weeks) at the time of study. Seventy‐eight per cent of parents were concerned about the quality of food intake and 45% wished to change their child’s eating behaviour. Although only 20% of parents identified their toddlers as being fussy eaters, food refusal was reported by 58% of respondents, and 51% and 69% used food rewards or coaxing, respectively, to encourage intake. Parents of toddlers who had received home gavage feeding (n = 5) or had a respiratory or neurological disability (n = 16), reported poorer feeding indicators. Conclusions: Programmes providing information on normal toddler eating behaviour and strategies to promote positive feeding practices may reassure parents and promote development of food preferences and eating behaviours consistent with long‐term healthy eating habits. Special emphasis should be placed on children with a disability or children who have received home gavage feeding.

Objective: To provide the first Australian data for the commonly used indicators of selenium (Se) status including plasma and erythrocyte Se and erythrocyte glutathione peroxidase (GSHPx) activity in newborn term and preterm infants from Adelaide, South Australia. Plasma Se levels from adults from Adelaide and Tasmania are also reported. Methodology: Descriptive, cross‐sectional study of the indicators of Se status of newborn Australian preterm and term infants. Results: Mean (± SD) plasma Se concentrations in the first 5 days of life for term (n = 48) and preterm (n = 90) infants were similar at 33 ± 11 and 29 ± 14 μg/L, respectively. Glutathione peroxidase activity was lower in preterm than term infants (P < 0.001). Erythrocyte Se was lower in male (n = 74) compared with female (n = 57) infants (491 ± 98 vs 561 ± 134 ng/g Hb; P < 0.001). Adelaide adult plasma Se levels were 88 ± 20 μg/L and higher than those of adult Tasmanian blood donors (77 ± 13 μg/l, P < 0.05). Conclusions: These data indicate that values for indicators of Se status of Australian infants and adults are at the lower end of the international range. This article highlights the paucity of Australian data on the Se content in the food supply and the Se status of the Australian population. Given the increasing range and complexity of the biological roles of Se and the emerging evidence that Se may have important roles in prevention of cancer and other disorders, further data are required to clarify the Se status of Australians.