A Pilot Study Investigating the Feasibility and Acceptability of a Parent-Only Behavioral Weight-Loss Treatment for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Brittany E Matheson, Amy Drahota, Kerri N Boutelle
PMID 31414266WHAT IT FOUND
In a 20-child pilot, a 16-week parent-only autism-adapted weight-loss program was well attended and liked.
Child weight measures, activity, and vegetable intake changed, but with no control group this cannot show the program caused the change.
Key findings
01Attendance and completion were high: 20 parents completed baseline and attended at least one session, 17 children had post-treatment anthropometric data, 16 parents completed post-treatment surveys, and 12 parents attended at least 13 of 16 sessions.
02Children's mean BMI decreased from 27.57 to 26.35 kg/m2, and BMI-z decreased from 2.17 to 1.92 from baseline to post-treatment; both changes were reported as significant.
03Parents reported high satisfaction: 93% said the program made them feel better about their child, all parents said it helped their child's weight, and 79% said it helped them and their child a lot.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
The study included only 20 children and their parents, and post-treatment data were missing for some participants. The paper does not report a control group or randomisation, so changes cannot be compared with no treatment. Follow-up after week 16 was not assessed. Children varied widely in age, adaptive functioning, medication use, and communication abilities, and cognitive abilities were not assessed. Calorie intake was recorded in logs but not systematically collected or analyzed. Many children were already receiving therapy services, including speech, occupational, physical, counseling, therapeutic horseback riding, or ABA, and some were taking medications. Parent satisfaction, food intake, and physical activity were parent-reported, and missing survey data were handled with imputation. Parent outcomes were measured only for 19 of 20 parents because one parent was wheelchair bound and could not provide anthropometric measurements.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the weight loss as proof that the parent-only program caused it. This was a 20-child pilot with no reported control group, missing data, and no systematic analysis of calories.