Dietary intake and nutritional status of children with autism spectrum disorders in Tianjin / 中国学校卫生

ABSTRACT

Objective@#To investigate the dietary nutrient intake and nutritional status of children with autism spectrum disorder(ASD), and provide evidence for developing scientific and effective nutrition intervention measures for children with ASD.@*Methods@#Nutrient intake of 90 children with ASD were investigated by using 3 day 24 hour dietary survey, and the anthropological indexes were measured.@*Results@#Among the 90 ASD children aged 3-9, 31 of them were overweight and obese, accounting for 34.4%, three children were underweight, accounting for 3.3%, and one child was stunted, accounting for 1.1%. Dietary intakes of vitamin A, vitamin B 1, vitamin D, vitamin B 6, folic acid, calcium and iodine in all age groups of ASD children were insufficient, but the dietary intakes of copper, phosphorus and zinc exceeded the recommended intake level. More than 10% of the ASD children consume copper and magnesium more than the tolerable upper intake level. There were significant differences in the dietary intake of energy, fat and vitamin A among normal, overweight, obese and thin ASD children( χ 2=9.24, 10.03, P <0.05).@*Conclusion@#Overweight and obesity, as well as the combination of insufficient and excessive nutrition in children with ASD is common. Personalized dietary nutrition intervention towards ASD children should be developed and implemented.