Clinical differences in children with autism spectrum disorder with and without food selectivity

Abstract

A B S T R A C TSeveral studies have described the atypical eating behaviors frequently occurring in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and food selectivity is the most frequent of these problems. The everyday management of mealtime behaviors among children with ASD can have a negative impact on family routines and become a significant stressor for families. However, much remains unknown about why food selectivity is so prevalent among individuals with ASD. The objective of this study was to investigate clinical and behavioral features in individuals with ASD with the aim of identifying distinctive clinical profiles in children with and without food selectivity. A total of 158 children with ASD were enrolled in this study: 79 participants with food selectivity (FS) were age and sex matched with 79 participants without food selectivity (No FS). All participants and their parents completed a battery of psychological tests for a comprehensive evaluation of ASD symptoms, cognitive abilities, adaptive skills, behavioral problems and parental stress level. No statistically significant difference on gastrointestinal symptoms and growth adequacy was found between the FS group and the No FS group. Overall, the FS group showed significantly higher rates of ASD symptoms as compared to the No FS group in the questionnaires completed by parents. Furthermore, parents of the FS group reported significantly higher levels of parental stress and a larger degree of their children's behavioral problems as compared to the No FS group. Finally, there were no differences between the FS and the No FS group on any adaptive skill domain. Our findings suggest that the identification of distinctive clinical and behavioral patterns in children with ASD and food selectivity is a crucial issue for parents and therapists in the daily management.© 2015 Published by Elsevier Ltd. IntroductionAutism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impairments in two core domains: social communication and restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of mental disorders5th edition (DSM-5) criteria, people with ASD fall on a continuum with individuals characterized by the severity of their symptoms in the two core domains. Furthermore, intellectual disability and/ or language impairment contribute to the heterogeneous presentation of ASD.Behavioral problems, such as tantrums, comorbidity with other psychiatric disorders, abnormal sleep patterns and unusual feeding behaviors, are often present in children with ASD and the everyday management of these problems is a challenge for clinicians and families (Dominick, Davis, Lainhart, Tager-Flusberg, & Folstein, 2007). Although not a diagnostic feature of ASD, feeding problems are common in this clinical population, and food selectivity is the most frequent one (Ahearn, Castine, Nault, & Green, 2001;Cornish, 1998;Dominick et al., 2007;Heiss, Moody, Cros...

Hypocalcemic Seizure Due to Severe Vitamin-D Deficiency in an Adolescent with Obesity and Autism

“…Among a wide range of atypical behaviors, children with ASD often have atypical feeding behaviors, of which food selectivity is the most common [4][5][6]. For the most part, even autistic children with food selectivity achieve growth adequacy [4].…”

A systematic PRISMA review of individuals with autism spectrum disorder in secure psychiatric care: prevalence, treatment, risk assessment and other clinical considerations

“…Of the 138 (cohort of patients treated over a six6 year period), 42 (30%) had an ASD (Esan, Chester, Gunaratna, Hoare, & Alexander, 2015). However, it is important to point out here that a number of studies and papers have highlighted the relatively high rate of intellectual disabilities in both children and adults with ASD in the general population/community samples (e.g., La Malfa, Lassi, Bertelli, Salvini, & Placidi, 2004;Matson & Shoemaker, 2009;Postorino, Fatta, Sanges, Giovagnoli, De Peppo, Vicari, & Mazzone, 2016;Tonnsen, Boan, Bradley, Charles, Cohen, & Carpenter, 2016). with ASD exhibited a significantly higher total AQ scores compared to those without a diagnosis of ASD.…”

“…The majority of these studies main research focus, however, was examining the epidemiology of ASD rather than specifically investigating the rate of comorbidity of ID in individuals with ASD (Postorino, Fatta, Sanges, Giovagnoli, De Peppo, Vicari, & Mazzone, 2016). Despite the well-established high co-morbidity between ID and ASD, the present paper focuses on studies which specifically look at individuals with ASD because there has been relatively little research investigating ASD in the criminal justice system.…”

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“…Research has shown that it is more common for children with ASD to display food selectivity challenges compared to children who are typically developing Johnson et al, 2008;Postorino, et al, 2015;Schreck, Williams, & Smith, 2004;Suarez et al, 2014). Cermak, Curtin, and Bandini (2010) conducted a review of the literature on sensory sensitivity in children with ASD and how this may impact food selectivity in this population.…”

“…Mealtime difficulties for children with ASD included refusal to eat; food selectivity, such as eating limited types or amounts of foods; and difficult behaviors affecting mealtime Johnson, Handen, Mayer-Costa, & Sacco, 2008;Koegel et al, 2012;Nadon et al, 2011;Postorino et al, 2015;Suarez et al, 2014).…”