Malhi Prahbhjot, Venkatesh Lolam, Bharti Bhavneet, Singhi Pratibha
Department of Pediatrics, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Sector 12, Chandigarh, 160012, India.
Indian J Pediatr. 2017 Apr;84(4):283-288. doi: 10.1007/s12098-016-2285-x. Epub 2017 Jan 12.
To compare parent reported feeding difficulties and nutritional adequacy of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) to an age and socio-economically matched group of typically developing children.
The scores on Children's Eating Behavior Inventory (CEBI), three-day food records, anthropometric measures and adequacy of micro- and macro- nutrients were compared for 63 children diagnosed with ASD and 50 typically developing children enrolled from the department of pediatrics of a tertiary care teaching hospital from North India.
The majority (79%) of the parents of ASD children reported some concern regarding their feeding behavior as compared to 64% of the parents of typically developing children. As compared to controls, ASD children had significantly higher CEBI scores (97.28 vs. 89.48, t = 3.15, P = 0.002) and more feeding problems (6.42 vs. 2.70, t = 3.74, P = 0.001). Relative to controls, ASD children consumed fewer number of food items (P = 0.022), particularly fruits (P = 0.004), vegetables (P = 0.011), and proteins (P = 0.015); had significantly lower daily intake of potassium (P = 0.001), copper (P = 0.007), and folate (P = 0.001). Although children with autism did not differ significantly from controls on intake of calories, height, weight, or body mass index, significantly greater proportion of ASD children failed to meet the estimated average requirement of thiamine (P = 0.039), vitamin C (P = 0.013), and copper (P = 0.005).
The findings underscore the need for comprehensive assessment and empirically-supported interventions for eating problems and dietary deficiencies found in ASD children.
比较自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）儿童与年龄及社会经济状况相匹配的正常发育儿童的家长报告的喂养困难情况及营养充足程度。
比较了印度北部一家三级护理教学医院儿科收治的63名被诊断为ASD的儿童和50名正常发育儿童在儿童饮食行为量表（CEBI）上的得分、三日饮食记录、人体测量指标以及微量和宏量营养素的充足情况。
与64%的正常发育儿童的家长相比，大多数（79%）ASD儿童的家长对其喂养行为表示担忧。与对照组相比，ASD儿童的CEBI得分显著更高（97.28对89.48，t = 3.15，P = 0.002），喂养问题更多（6.42对2.70，t = 3.74，P = 0.001）。相对于对照组，ASD儿童食用的食物种类较少（P = 0.022），尤其是水果（P = 0.004）、蔬菜（P = 0.011）和蛋白质（P = 0.015）；钾（P = 0.001）、铜（P = 0.007）和叶酸（P = 0.001）的每日摄入量显著更低。尽管自闭症儿童在卡路里摄入量、身高、体重或体重指数方面与对照组没有显著差异，但ASD儿童中未达到硫胺素（P = 0.039）、维生素C（P = 0.013）和铜（P = 0.005）估计平均需求量的比例显著更高。
研究结果强调了对ASD儿童出现的饮食问题和饮食缺乏进行全面评估及基于实证的干预措施的必要性。
