In infants and children with feeding and swallowing issues, modifying solid foods to form a liquid or puree is used to ensure adequate growth and nutrition. However, the behavioral and neurophysiological effects of prolonged use of this intervention during critical periods of postnatal oral skill development have not been systematically examined, although substantial anecdotal evidence suggests that it negatively impacts downstream feeding motor and coordination skills, possibly due to immature sensorimotor development. Using an established animal model for infant and juvenile feeding physiology, we leverage X‐ray reconstruction of moving morphology to compare feeding behavior and kinematics between 12‐week‐old pigs reared on solid chow (control) and an age‐ and sex‐matched cohort raised on the same chow softened to a liquid. When feeding on two novel foods, almond and apple, maintenance on a soft diet decreases gape cycle duration, resulting in a higher chewing frequency. When feeding on almonds, pigs in this group spent less time ingesting foods compared to controls, and chewing cycles were characterized by less jaw rotation about a dorsoventral axis (yaw) necessary for food reduction. There was also a reduced tendency to alternate chewing side with every chew during almond chewing, a behavioral pattern typical of pigs. These more pronounced impacts on behavior and kinematics during feeding on almonds, a tougher and stiffer food than apples, suggest that food properties mediate the behavioral and physiological impacts of early texture modification and that the ability to adapt to different food properties may be underdeveloped. In contrast, the limited effects of food texture modification on apple chewing indicate that such intervention/treatment does not alter feeding behavior of less challenging foods. Observed differences cannot be attributed to morphology because texture modification over the treatment period had limited impact on craniodental growth. Short‐term impacts of soft‐texture modification during postweaning development on feeding dynamics should be considered as potential negative outcomes of this treatment strategy.

中文翻译：

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在早期生长和发育过程中长期使用软饮食会改变幼年动物模型的进食行为和咀嚼运动学

对于有喂养和吞咽问题的婴儿和儿童，可以将固体食物改为液体或果泥，以确保充足的生长和营养。然而，在产后口腔技能发展的关键时期长期使用这种干预措施的行为和神经生理学影响尚未得到系统研究，尽管大量轶事证据表明它会对下游进食运动和协调技能产生负面影响，可能是由于感觉运动发育不成熟。使用已建立的婴儿和幼年喂养生理学动物模型，我们利用运动形态的 X 射线重建来比较以固体饲料饲养的 12 周龄猪（对照）与年龄和性别匹配的群体之间的喂养行为和运动学用同一饲料饲养，软化成液体。当喂食杏仁和苹果这两种新食物时，维持软食会缩短打哈欠周期的持续时间，从而导致更高的咀嚼频率。当以杏仁为食时，与对照组相比，该组猪消化食物的时间较少，咀嚼周期的特点是减少食物所需的下颌绕背腹轴（偏航）的旋转较少。在咀嚼杏仁时，每次咀嚼时交替咀嚼一侧的倾向也减少了，这是猪的典型行为模式。这些对行为和运动学的更明显的影响在喂食杏仁（一种比苹果更坚韧的食物）期间表明，食物特性调节了早期质地改变的行为和生理影响，并且适应不同食物特性的能力可能尚未发育成熟。相比之下，食物质地改变对苹果咀嚼的影响有限，表明这种干预/治疗不会改变挑战性较小的食物的喂养行为。观察到的差异不能归因于形态，因为治疗期间的纹理改变对颅牙生长的影响有限。断奶后发育过程中软质改变对饲喂动态的短期影响应被视为该治疗策略的潜在负面结果。