Standardization of the Japanese Pediatric Eating Assessment Tool (PediEAT-J): Age-based Norms, Developmental Trajectories and a Clinical Cut-off for Early Screening.

Feeding and swallowing difficulties in early childhood can significantly impact growth and family well-being. Currently, Japan lacks specific screening norms for these issues. To address this gap, we standardized the Japanese version of the Pediatric Eating Assessment Tool (PediEAT-J) and established a clinical cut-off based on caregiver data from 697 children aged 6 to 77 months. Among these, 662 children were typically developing (TD), and 35 had identified feeding problems. Descriptive statistics were calculated for the TD group, with raw scores converted into T-scores (mean = 50, SD = 10). Developmental patterns varied across subscales: Physiologic Symptoms decreased significantly after 12 months; Problematic Mealtime Behaviors peaked at 30-36 months; Selective/Restrictive Eating was most common during early weaning; and Oral Processing was highest at 15-18 months. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis yielded an area under the curve of 0.835, with optimal cut-offs of 0.74 for sensitivity and 0.84 for specificity. These findings provide the first age-stratified norms for the Japanese population and enable rapid, culturally relevant screening for feeding risks, facilitating early interventions and cross-cultural comparisons in feeding development.