Objectives: This case-control study aimed to assess the nutrient intake and parents’ perception of mealtime behaviors and feeding history in Chinese children with autism.
Methods: A total of 21 children (3-9 years-old; 14 boys and 7 girls) with autism and 21 typically developing children matched for age, gender, and ethnicity were enrolled in this study. The parents of children with autism and children with typical development completed the mealtime behavior survey and 3-day food records. Anthropometric data were expressed as Z scores.
Results: Nutrient intakes were similar for both groups of children, with most nutrient intakes close to or exceeding recommended amounts except vitamin A, vitamin B6, and folate. The percentage of vitamin C and calcium intakes below 80% of Dietary Reference Intakes (DRI) recommended by Chinese Nutrition Society of autistic children were present in 57.1% and 42.9%, respectively, which were found to be higher compared with the typically developing children (23.8% and 14.3%, respectively). Compared with parents of typically developing children, parents of children with autism were more likely to report that their children resisted trying new foods and had problems in foodintake, and they were less likely to describe their children being given nutritional supplement, having a meal independently, and being absorbed in diet during mealtime. Moreover, more autistic children had constipation, chronic diarrhea, food or drug allergy, self-injurious behavior, tantrums, aggression or oppositional behavior, and had a family number with allergy or immunity diseases.
Conclusions: These findings indicate that the intakes of several nutrients for children with autism might be inadequate, and the dietary behaviors of autistic children are probably negative.
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See more of: Symptoms, Diagnosis & Phenotype