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New research on the finicky eating habits of children with autism finds that while autistic children tend to eat a less varied diet than other kids do, their dietary preferences have little negative effect on their height, weight and growth.
Researchers at the University of Bristol began with a database of children born from 1991 to 1992 who were enrolled in a long-term study in Avon, England. The children's caregivers completed detailed food questionnaires describing the kids' eating habits at five intervals, beginning at six months and continuing to age 4½. Since autism is generally not diagnosed until after age 2, when children begin speaking, the study captured the kids' eating habits well before parents were even aware their children could be afflicted with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). That meant their answers to the questionnaires were unlikely to be biased by knowledge of eventual autism status.
By the end of the study, when the children were 7 years old, 79 had been diagnosed with an ASD; 12,901 had not. Researchers found that by the time they were 1 month old, the autistic children were already 35% more likely than unaffected children to be slow feeders. By their first birthday, their diets were considerably less varied -- they ate fewer vegetables and fruits, but they also consumed fewer sweets and carbonated beverages. By that age, children with ASD were nearly twice as likely to be choosier about their food than unaffected children, according to their parents' reports.
However, the scientists found no significant differences in the total energy intake or overall carbohydrate, fat and protein consumption between the autistic children and the controls at 18 months. All the children were similar in height, weight and body mass index (BMI; a ratio of height to weight used to measure obesity). "For parents of an autistic child, these data suggest they needn't be too concerned about their child's eating habits," says Pauline Emmett, a nutritionist and one of the authors of the research paper, which was published in Pediatrics. "In general, these children are not going to end up malnourished. I think it's a hopeful message for parents."
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