Changes in Food Selectivity in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Linda G Bandini, Carol Curtin, Sarah Phillips and 3 others
PMID 27866350WHAT IT FOUND
Parents of 18 children with autism reported fewer refused foods and less difficult mealtime behavior after about 6.4 years, but food variety did not increase and more children were overweight or obese.
Key findings
01Parents reported that children refused a smaller share of foods offered, falling from 47% at baseline to 31% at follow-up.
02The number of unique foods eaten over three days did not increase, moving from 18.9 at baseline to 17.6 at follow-up.
03At baseline, five participants were overweight or obese; at follow-up, nine participants were overweight or obese.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
Only 18 children were analysed at follow-up, so chance findings and unstable estimates are likely. This was an observational follow-up, not a treatment study, so it cannot show that age or any intervention caused the changes. Food refusal and repertoire were measured by parent report, which may not accurately capture overall dietary variety. The time between visits averaged 6.4 years but ranged from 5.1 to 8.2 years. The original study excluded children on medications that impacted appetite, but the follow-up did not apply the same exclusion. Participants who returned for follow-up had higher baseline problematic mealtime behavior scores than those who did not, so the follow-up sample may not represent the original group. No accelerometry was used to measure physical activity, so changes in activity could have influenced weight status.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that waiting will solve feeding problems. This was an observational follow-up of 18 children, not a treatment study, and although food refusal decreased, food repertoire did not increase and more children were overweight or obese.