Reliability and Validity of the Turkish Version of the Sensory Eating Problems Scale

The etiology of childhood feeding problems is often complex and likely due to multiple factors, such as biological issues, oral motor deficits, and environmental contingencies. Sensory processing, or the ability to receive, integrate, and process sensory input, such as visual, olfactory, or gustatory information, has also been speculated to influence eating. A growing literature has examined the association between sensory processing and eating behavior in several populations of children. While child feeding problems have been found to be associated with withsensory processing problems, clinicians could benefit from more specifics about the types of oral sensory problems most associated with feeding problems. For example, the Oral Sensory Processing subscale of the Sensory Profile includes a collection of sensory problems associated with feeding difficulties such as gagging easily to food or utensils in the mouth, rejecting certain food tastes or smells, accepting limited food textures, biting the tongue or lips , but without documentation that identifies the separate dimensions of oral sensitivity problems relevant to children's feeding problems. Further, along theOral Sensory Processing Subscale of the SP, a particular oral sensory problems, such as sensitivity to texture, may be measured by only one or two items. Sensory Eating Problems Scale is a newly developed scale and can measure specific oral sensory problems in children. SEPS can also provide a more detailed assessment of sensory eating behavior than provided in previous studies by developing the Sensory Eating Problems Scale (SEPS) to identify specific dimensions of oral sensitivity children show during feeding. However; there is no short, easy to use and easy to understand sensory eating problems scale with the Turkish version.