Us Altay Diler, Esnafoglu Erman, Kocyigit Emine, Mataraci Değirmenci Duygu, Noyan Tevfik
Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Ordu University, Ordu, Turkey.
Faculty of Medicine, Department of Child and Adolescent Mental Health Dısorders, Ordu University, Ordu, Turkey.
Brain Behav. 2025 May;15(5):e70504. doi: 10.1002/brb3.70504.
This study examined the effect of nutrition education given by dietitians to families of children aged 3-18 diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) on meal consumption, eating behaviors, autism severity, serum oxidant/antioxidant marker levels, and total dietary antioxidant capacity.
The project was carried out with 44 pediatric patients diagnosed with ASD and their parents. The ELISA method was used for antioxidant and oxidant measurements, and the oxygen radical absorbance capacity values of foods defined according to the BeBiS program were used to calculate the total dietary antioxidant capacity. The children's eating behavior questionnaire, childhood autism rating scale (CARS), and brief autism mealtime behavior inventory (BAMBI) were administered.
There was no significant difference in antioxidant and oxidant parameters between the experimental and control groups. At the end of eight weeks, superoxide dismutase and glutathione levels increased significantly in the experimental group. There was no significant difference in terms of the families of the autistic children in the experimental and control groups or their disease-specific knowledge. BAMBI scores were similar between the groups at baseline, while a significant decrease was observed in the experimental group at the end of the study. Daily energy, saturated fatty acid (SFA), carbohydrate, and omega-6 intake decreased, while protein, fat, mono- and poly-unsaturated fatty acid, and omega-3 intake increased in the experimental group following nutrition education. However, these results were not statistically significant. There was no significant difference in terms of micronutrient intake between children with ASD in experimental and control groups before and after nutrition education.
Improvements in eating habits and dietary patterns were noted after nutrition education, especially in the experimental group, even though there were no appreciable changes in oxidative stress indicators. These behavioral shifts imply that family nutrition education can be extremely important in encouraging better eating practices and improving the general well-being of kids with ASD and their families.
本研究调查了营养师为3至18岁被诊断为自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）儿童的家庭提供营养教育，对膳食摄入、饮食行为、自闭症严重程度、血清氧化/抗氧化标志物水平以及总膳食抗氧化能力的影响。
该项目对44名被诊断为ASD的儿科患者及其父母开展。采用酶联免疫吸附测定（ELISA）法进行抗氧化剂和氧化剂测量，并根据BeBiS程序定义的食物的氧自由基吸收能力值来计算总膳食抗氧化能力。发放儿童饮食行为问卷、儿童自闭症评定量表（CARS）和简短自闭症用餐时间行为量表（BAMBI）。
实验组和对照组之间的抗氧化剂和氧化剂参数无显著差异。八周结束时，实验组超氧化物歧化酶和谷胱甘肽水平显著升高。实验组和对照组中自闭症儿童的家庭及其疾病相关知识方面无显著差异。两组在基线时BAMBI评分相似，而在研究结束时实验组有显著下降。营养教育后，实验组每日能量、饱和脂肪酸（SFA）、碳水化合物和ω-6摄入量减少，而蛋白质、脂肪、单不饱和脂肪酸和多不饱和脂肪酸以及ω-3摄入量增加。然而，这些结果无统计学意义。营养教育前后，实验组和对照组中患有ASD的儿童在微量营养素摄入量方面无显著差异。
营养教育后饮食习惯和饮食模式有所改善，尤其是实验组，尽管氧化应激指标没有明显变化。这些行为转变意味着家庭营养教育对于鼓励更好的饮食习惯以及改善ASD儿童及其家庭的总体幸福感可能极其重要。
