Centro Universitário Tiradentes, Maceió, AL, Brazil.
Universidade Federal de Alagoas, Maceió, AL, Brazil.
Rev Paul Pediatr. 2020 Mar 20;38:e2019080. doi: 10.1590/1984-0462/2020/38/2019080. eCollection 2020.
To evaluate the nutritional status and gastrointestinal changes in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
Cross-sectional, descriptive analysis of 39 children with ASD aged between three and ten years old, registered in the participating association. Nutritional status was evaluated by body mass index/age and weight/age, according to the guidelines from the World Health Organization. In order to investigate whether gastrointestinal alterations occurred, the interviewees answered a questionnaire about the presence of these symptoms within the last 30 days. In order to evaluate food consumption, a 24-hour recall questionnaire was applied and the food reported were grouped as: gluten sources, casein and ultra-processed sources. For the statistical analysis, Epi-Info software version 7.2 was used. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to evaluate the variables associated with gastrointestinal alterations.
There was a high prevalence of overweight children with autism spectrum disorder (64.1%). No child was underweight. Thirty-four children (84.2%) had gastrointestinal symptoms. Consumption of gluten was associated with gastrointestinal symptoms (β=0.38; 95%CI 0.07-0.75; p=0.02).
The high prevalence of being overweight should be considered during the follow-up visits of children with ASD. The influence of gluten consumption on the presence of gastrointestinal symptoms was observed in this study, and the causes involved in these alterations need to be further investigated.
评估自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）儿童的营养状况和胃肠道变化。
对参加协会的 39 名 3 至 10 岁自闭症儿童进行横断面、描述性分析。根据世界卫生组织的指南，通过体重指数/年龄和体重/年龄评估营养状况。为了调查是否存在胃肠道改变，受访者回答了一个关于过去 30 天内是否存在这些症状的问卷。为了评估食物摄入量，应用了 24 小时回顾性问卷，报告的食物分为：谷蛋白来源、酪蛋白和超加工来源。使用 Epi-Info 软件版本 7.2 进行统计分析。采用多变量逻辑回归分析评估与胃肠道改变相关的变量。
自闭症谱系障碍儿童超重的患病率很高（64.1%）。没有体重不足的儿童。34 名儿童（84.2%）有胃肠道症状。食用谷蛋白与胃肠道症状有关（β=0.38；95%CI 0.07-0.75；p=0.02）。
在自闭症谱系障碍儿童的随访中应考虑超重的高患病率。本研究观察到谷蛋白摄入对胃肠道症状存在的影响，需要进一步研究这些改变的原因。
