Dietary intake in children on the autism spectrum is altered and linked to differences in autistic traits and sensory processing styles.

ABSTRACT: Diets of children and adolescents on the autism spectrum often differ when compared to their non-autistic peers. Most dietary studies have been limited by small sample sizes and rarely assess the heterogeneity of autism. Addressing this gap, this study compared the anthropometrics, dietary composition, dietary quality, and food variety of 154 Australian children and adolescents on the spectrum and 213 non-autistic children (71 siblings and 142 unrelated controls). Beyond the case-control approach, within-group comparisons assessed the influence of autism clinical presentations and sensory processing styles on body mass index (BMI) and measures of dietary intake among those on the spectrum. In this word first study of diet that included between-group comparisons with non-autistic peers (sib

SUBMITTER: Mathew NE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9804726 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature