Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by a lack of social communication and restrictive, repetitive behaviors or interests. This study aimed to examine the mealtime behaviors and food preferences of students with ASD. An online questionnaire on mealtime behavior and food preferences of ASD students was conducted by caregivers including parents, and the average age of ASD students was 14.1 ± 6.1. The analysis of mealtime behavior resulted in classification into three clusters: cluster 1, the “low-level problematic mealtime behavior group”; cluster 2, the “mid-level problematic mealtime behavior group”; and cluster 3, the “high-level problematic mealtime behavior group”. Cluster 1 included older students than other clusters and their own specific dietary rituals. Meanwhile, cluster 3 included younger students than other clusters, high-level problematic mealtime behavior, and a low preference for food. In particular, there were significant differences in age and food preference for each subdivided ASD group according to their eating behaviors. Therefore, the content and method of nutrition education for ASD students’ needs a detailed approach according to the characteristics of each group.
Highlights
The term “autism”, first introduced by Leo Kanner in 1943 [1], comes from the Greek word “autos”, which means “sel“ and “withi“ [2], and is one of the developmental disorders named for being in a state like “living in their own worlds” [1]
According to the criteria of obesity using Body mass index (BMI) presented by WHO expert consultation, 40 students (30.8%) were underweight (
On the other hand, according to the criteria of obesity using BMI presented by IOTF, 40 students (30.8%) were underweight (
Summary
The term “autism”, first introduced by Leo Kanner in 1943 [1], comes from the Greek word “autos”, which means “sel“ and “withi“ [2], and is one of the developmental disorders named for being in a state like “living in their own worlds” [1]. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by the two core areas of lack of social communication and restrictive, repetitive behaviors and interests, which impede the performance of roles in society and everyday life [8]. Children with ASD have a variety of problems related to feeding behaviors due to disorder characteristics, including lack of communication skills, social engagement, behavioral flexibility, sensory sensitivity, and limitations in range of areas of interest [9,10,11,12]. The prevalence of problem feeding behavior in children with ASD was reported to be 46–89% [14], which is estimated to be about five times higher than that in children without ASD [12]
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