Abstract
BackgroundSummer is an emerging area of concern for accelerated weight gain in children. Little is known about weight-related behaviors of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) during summer. AimsTo compare weight-related behaviors of children with ASD during summer versus school months. Methods and proceduresCaregivers of children (mean age 5.7 years, ±1.8 years) with ASD participated in a within-person observational study and reported daily estimates of bed/wake times, daily food and beverage consumption, and screen time at home for 14 days during both school and summer months. Outcomes and resultsCaregivers reported their child (N = 14; 100 % ASD diagnosis, 71 % boys) engaged in an additional +42 min of daily screen time at home (95 % CI: 22.1, 62.5), an additional +11 min of screen time after 8:00PM (95 %CI: 4.4, 17.1), went to bed ∼30 min later and woke up ∼50 min later on summer days compared to school month days. Conclusions and implicationsInitial evidence suggests young children with ASD had higher amounts of daily screen time and later bed/wake time during summer compared to school. Further research in large diverse samples is warranted to help inform intervention design and delivery in this population.
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