Eating disorders in preschool and primary school children with autism spectrum disorder and its clinical significance

Abstract

Autism spectrum disorder is the fastest growing form of nervous and mental development disorder in the world. In this regard, there is a special need to resolve issues of diagnosis and correction of not only the main symptoms of this disease, but also numerous associated somatic disorders. One of the common clinical manifestations in children with autism spectrum disorder is pathological eating behavior, which includes disturbances in eating habits and preferences, frequency of meals, etc. Despite the fact that eating disorders can also occur among normotypical coevals, in children with autism spectrum disorder, these manifestations are clinically more diverse, vary in severity and often appear earlier than the main symptoms of the disease. It must be emphasized that the correction of certain nutritional disorders in this group of children is often difficult due to the characteristics of the course of the underlying disease. This may be further exacerbated by increased parental anxiety. A timely solution to the problem of eating behavior in children with autistic disorder is of great importance for strengthening their health and reducing the severity of the underlying disease, since the connection between neuropsychic and somatic health is inseparable. In the review, we tried to identify the main factors involved in the formation of eating disorders in children with autism spectrum disorder, and presented existing practical tools for analyzing this medical problem and managing their nutrition for preventive and therapeutic purposes.