P172 – 2278: Eating and movement behaviour in children with autism in comparison to normal children

Abstract

Objective This study was conducted to assess the eating and movement behavior in children with autism in comparison to normal children. Methods This is a case control study done at a tertiary care hospital in South India from February 2013 to May 2014. Thirty-three children aged between 3 to 12 years diagnosed as autism based on ICD 10 F84.0 to F84.9 criteria for autism formed the cases and 35 developmentally normal children attending general pediatric Out Patient Department for minor illness formed controls. Enrollment was done after obtaining Institute Ethics Committee approval. Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) and Vineland Social Maturity Scale (VSMS) were used to determine severity of autism and Social Quotient respectively. Child Eating Behavior Questionnaire (CEBQ) and Repetitive Behavior scale-Revised (RBS-R) were used to assess eating and repetitive behavior respectively. Cases were followed up at 2 months and 4 months after their first visit and their eating behavior and repetitive behavior reassessed. The two groups were subsequently compared. P Results Mean CEBQ score among cases was 94.6 and among controls 90.1. Among the domains of CEBQ, Enjoyment of food, Slowness in Eating, Food Fussiness and Satiety Responsiveness were significantly different in the two groups. On follow up at 2 months and 4 months there was no significant change in the eating behavior. Repetitive stereotypic movements were seen in 87.8% of cases. On follow up, repetitive movements decreased significantly (p=0.045). Conclusion Enjoyment of food was better in children with autism when they were allowed to feed themselves apart from being fed by the guardian. Thus, understanding the repetitive movements might help the children with autism in acquiring self-feeding skills, as hand finger subtype was the commonest repetitive movement.