Relationship Between Eating Behavior Problems And Symptomd Of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders

Part 1 SURVEY OF EATING BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS IN CHILDREN WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDERSObjectives: To investigate the eating related problems in children with autism spectrum disorders(ASD).Methods: According to the inclusion criteria,a total of 200 children with ASD(4.03±1.19 years)and 229 typically development(TD)children(4.13±1.14 years)from Chongqing,China,were recruited.Questionnaires were used to investigate the eating behavior problems(EBP),eating food categories,feeding problems,and the effects of eating behavior problems on parent-child relationships.Results: After controlling the effects of age stratification,ASD children were more likely to eating slowly,choosy in food,fear of new foods,resistance to food texture changes and resistance to food color changes than TD children(P<0.05),preschool children with ASD weremore likely to playing during dinner than TD children(P=0.020).The higher detection rate of children's eating behavior problems in the ASD group was fear of new foods(79.5%),choosy in food(70%)and playing during dinner(58.5%).The first two dietary behavior problems were significantly higher than the TD group(P<0.05),and ASD children were more severe picky than TD group(P=0.000).It was found that the problem of “need parents to feed” in early childhood was higher than that in preschool(52.2% vs.26%)of ASD children(P=0.001).At the same time,after controlling the ageing effect,ASD children still have a narrower diet,and the varieties of root vegetables,vegetables,beans and soy products,algae,fruits,dairy and dairy products,eggs and egg products,and seafood are less than TD group(P<0.05).In early childhood ASD children only had fewer vegetables than the preschool group(43.5% vs.63%)(P=0.018).Compared with parents of TD group(6.6%),ASD parents were more likely to associate their child's mood with food(P=0.000).More ASD parents thought that their children had food problems and were more worry about their feeding(P<0.05),eating-related problems had a partial impact on the relationship between parents and children in the two groups,but there was no difference between the two groups(P> 0.05).Conclusions: The incidence of single and combined EBP in children with ASD are higher than that in TD children,and the diet is narrower.Early childhood children with ASD have obvious EBP,and which may be one of the early manifestations of part ASD children.ASD parents will influence feeding because of their children's emotions,and they also show more concerns about their feeding problems.Part 2 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EATING BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS OF AUTISTIC CHILDREN WITH THEIR SYMPTOMSObjectives: To explore the relationship between EBP and their core and common accompanying symptoms in children with ASD.Methods: According to the inclusion criteria,the ASD children from the Development and Behavior Center of the Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University and the special training institutions in Chongqing were included from April 2017 to February 2018,and the TD group included 229 children sampled from a common kindergarten in Chongqing.Questionnaire survey children's EBP,gastrointestinal symptoms.The Childhood Autism Rating Scale,Autism Behavior Checklist,Infant Junior Middle School Social Life ability rating scale and Gesell Developmental Scale(GDS)evaluates the core symptoms,social life ability and intellectual developmental level of children with ASD respectively,and analyzes the effects of ASD children's EBP on the symptoms of ASD children.Results: There was no difference in the incidence of eating behavior problems among children with ASD of different severity(P>0.05).ASD children who have eating behavior problems were different in the ABC scale scores.The total score of ABC was higher in “playing during dinner” group(P=0.045).The group with “eating slowly” scored higher in communication dimension(P=0.05).The total score,sensory dimension and self-care skills dimension in “picky eating” group were all higher(P<0.05).In SM,the scores of communication,operation and self-help skills of “need parents to feed” group were lower(P<0.05).The group that “fear of new foods” had lower scores in activities and self-management group(P <0.05).Conclusions: Children with ASD who are picky about food,playing during dinner,eating slowly have more severe autism symptoms.The level of fine motor development and intellectual development of ASD children who need their parents to feed was lower.ASD children who were resisting try new foods were less socially competent.These high incidence of EBP may affect the development of communication and social and life skills in ASD children.Therefore,the eating behavior problems of children with ASD cannot be ignored.Early detection and early EBP intervention may help to improve the symptoms of ASD children.