Eating and feeding problems and gastrointestinal dysfunction in Autism Spectrum Disorders

Using parent‐ and self‐reports to evaluate eating disturbances in young girls with Autism Spectrum Disorder

“…At this time, no cross‐validation process can be applied to determine the relative validity of the mothers’ versus daughters’ reports on these two SWEAA subscales. To some extent, these findings address the concern expressed by Vissoker et al (2015) that the common reliance on parental reports of ED in many previous studies was open to bias because parents may under‐report problems of food intake or eating by restricting the possibility of that bias (if it exists) to just two of the 10 SWEAA subscales. However, both self‐ and parent‐ratings of ED may be biased, and the cross‐validation of those ratings with objective observational data is needed.…”

“…Bandini et al (2010) also developed an observational procedure for collecting data on ED, and others have used similarly objective methods (e.g., Hyman et al, 2012). However, in the most recent review update on this literature, Vissoker et al (2015) noted that "most" studies of ED in ASD relied on parental reports, "which is inherently subject to bias" (p. 19). The continued use of parents as informants about their child's ED is demonstrated by two recent studies.…”

“…When this occurs in relation to food selectivity and eating, it has been referred to as an “eating disturbance” (ED) which is “over‐represented in ASD at all ages and all cognitive levels” (Rastam, 2008, p. 38). Vissoker et al (2015) also noted that “A majority of children on the autistic spectrum suffer from some manifestation of food selectivity or picky eating” (p. 11). These observations have been consistent over time, with Kanner (1943) commenting on food‐related disturbances in of 6 of the 11 children with ASD he studied, suggesting that this is a well‐established aspect of ASD.…”

“…The eating disturbances examined in the studies mentioned above covered a wide range of food‐related behaviours, including eating behaviour, concerns about the process of purchasing and preparing meals, social situations at mealtimes and the environment surrounding meals, being able to detect personal hunger and/or satiety, and other similar behaviours surrounding food and eating (Karlsson et al, 2013). Vissoker et al (2015) found that there was a lack of agreed definitions of what constituted eating disturbances and therefore little direct comparability of results across studies.…”

Epigenetic Treatment of Neuropsychiatric Disorders: Autism and Schizophrenia

“…A plethora of studies now support this theory (for a review see: Rossignol and Frye [2012]). The overlap between autism and inherited or acquired mitochondrial disease resulting from mtDNA or nDNA mutations is less than 5% [Haas, 2010]; nevertheless, they share commonality in numerous metabolic abnormalities [Ververi et al, 2012;Ghaziuddin and Al-Owain, 2013;Gu et al, 2013;Naviaux et al, 2014;Guevara-Campos et al, 2015;Kabouridis and Pachnis, 2015], including inflammatory gastrointestinal issues [Scudellari, 2011;Wang et al, 2011;Rossignol and Frye, 2012;Chaidez et al, 2014], and both epilepsy and seizures [Wallace and Fan, 2010;Fassio et al, 2011;Scudellari, 2011;Rossignol and Frye, 2012;Novarino et al, 2012;Zafeiriou et al, 2013;Kabouridis and Pachnis, 2015;Vissoker et al, 2015].…”