P073 Diet Quality and Ultra-processed Food Consumption Before and After a Virtual Nutrition Intervention for Adolescents with ASD

Abstract

<h3>Background</h3> Adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are more likely to have limited food repertoire and may consume more energy-dense foods than their neurotypical counterparts. Nutrition interventions may improve diet quality of adolescents with ASD by decreasing ultra-processed food (UPF) intake and increasing minimally processed food (MPF) intake. <h3>Objective</h3> To assess whether UPF intake and diet quality in adolescents with ASD changed after an 8-week virtual nutrition education intervention. <h3>Study Design, Setting, Participants</h3> This is a secondary analysis of data collected from a pre-post intervention study with 22 adolescents with ASD aged 12-21 years. The intervention consisted of eight weekly sessions based on social cognitive theory. <h3>Measurable Outcome/Analysis</h3> The Block Kids Food Frequency Questionnaire was completed by each adolescent at pre-/post-intervention. Dietary data were coded based on NOVA food processing classifications to determine daily servings of UPF and MPF. The Healthy Eating Index-2015 (HEI-2015) was calculated to assess diet quality. Participants were categorized into high/low UPF/MPF based on pre-intervention medians. Descriptive statistics and paired t-tests were performed. <h3>Results</h3> Those who had high UPF at baseline significantly decreased UPF from 14.0-7.7 servings/day (<i>P =</i> 0.002), but those who had low UPF increased UPF from 8.0-10.9 (<i>P =</i> 0.023). The low-UPF group improved HEI-defined refined grain intake (<i>P =</i> 0.029) at post-intervention. In the low-MPF group, MPF intake did not change after the intervention (5.1-6.8, <i>P =</i> 0.188), but HEI significantly increased (50.2-56.5, <i>P =</i> 0.025). MPF decreased in the high-MPF group (11.4-9.8, <i>P =</i> 0.034), due to decreased total fruit (<i>P =</i> 0.031) but not whole fruit consumption as defined by the HEI, indicating a decrease in fruit juice intake. There were no other differences in UPF or MPF intake and the HEI scores. <h3>Conclusions</h3> Further research is needed to investigate the relationships between food processing categories and diet quality. Future virtual nutrition interventions for this population may emphasize strategies to reduce energy-dense UPF and increase MPF. <h3>Funding</h3> University of South Florida College of Public Health