Food selectivity and weight status in children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

The overall objectives of this study are first to investigate nutrient adequacy of diets of children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and compare them to age-matched children with other developmental disabilities also referred to as neuro-impaired comparison (NIC) in this study and to children who are typically developing (TD); and second to examine the relationship of food selectivity to nutritional and weight status in three groups of children ages two to six years old: (1) those with an ASD; (2) a comparison group with other developmental disorders; and (3) typically developing children.;This study was a cross-sectional case control study. This study analyzed data that were collected for the Study to Explore Early Development (SEED) which was a collaborative epidemiologic study to identify risk factors for autism. Three day food records were completed for all participants and are frequently used in research and clinical practice. Weight and height measurements were used to calculate Body Mass Index. Analyses were based on three day food records, height and weight measurements, and participant information.;An analysis of data assessed nutrient intakes across the three comparison groups (ASD, NIC, TD) and whether food selectivity is related to nutrient intake and weight status. To better understand the sample of participants, descriptive statistics (frequencies, percentages, means, and standard deviations) were run on the demographic variables of interest. In addition, Chi-square tests were conducted in order to determine if there was a statistical difference among the demographic variables. Means were corrected for child sex, age of child, maternal ethnicity, maternal level of education, maternal income, and total kilocalories consumed. For each hypothesis, descriptive statistics were conducted (mean, median, standard deviations) in order to gain a better understanding of the variables of interest and prior to formal analysis. Limited food repertoire (≤ 22 food items consumed over a three day period) and high frequency single food intake (HFSFI; single foods eaten ≥ 4 times daily) will be assessed to determine if a participant is food selective. If a participant was considered to have a limited food repertoire or HFSFI, then they will be classified as food selective. The adequacy of nutritional intake was determined by comparing mean dietary intakes to the Estimated Average Requirements (EAR) or an Adequate Intake (AI; IOM, 2000). One-way analyses of covariance (ANCOVA) were done to determine the differences among the groups. In order to test the hypotheses regarding weight status, BMIz scores, BMI mean percentiles, standard deviations, and one-way ANCOVA's were calculated for the participants. One-way analyses of covariance (ANCOVA) tests were used to examine the differences among the groups in regards to the hypotheses and logistic transformations were done for high frequency single food intake and food selectivity since they were binary outcomes (yes or no).;The results indicated that there were few significant differences in mean intakes of macro- and micronutrients among the three groups (ASD, NIC, TD). Contrary to hypothesis 3 and 4, there were no significant differences of prevalence of overweight and obesity in the ASD group (p>.05); moreover there were no significant differences in growth faltering (≤ 5th %tile) among the groups. The results also illustrated that the ASD group were significantly more food selective (46%) when compared to NIC (31%) and TD (26%). Contrary to our prediction, children with an ASD who were food selective did not appear to be at an increased risk of becoming overweight and/or obese. Previous literature and our results demonstrated that children with an ASD, who are food selective, preferred energy dense foods which may contribute to the development of overweight and/or obesity over a period of time. Greater detail and more research is needed to better understand the correlation between BMI status, dietary intake and food selectivity in children with an ASD. (Abstract shortened by UMI.).