Overweight and Obesity in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): a Critical Review Investigating the Etiology, Development, and Maintenance of this Relationship

Matheson, Brittany E.; Douglas, Jennifer M.

doi:10.1007/s40489-017-0103-7

Cited by 65 publications

(56 citation statements)

References 132 publications

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“…The autism -picky eating association also corresponds with the frequently reported link of autism with underweight (Sobanski et al, 1999). However, other children with ASD have overweight (Curtin et al, 2010;Hill et al, 2015;Matheson & Douglas, 2017), which thus may be explained by high levels of food responsiveness in this group. Interestingly, Wallace et al (2018) reported that particularly children with ASD traits and food neophobia have a higher BMI, suggesting a complex interplay between eating behaviors and a differential effect of food neophobia on health outcomes among children with autism features as compared to unaffected peers.…”

Section: Association Between Asd Diagnosis and Eating Behaviorsupporting

confidence: 69%

“…The described eating difficulties may have various health consequences. Children with autism are more likely to have either a low or high body weight (Matheson & Douglas, 2017;Sobanski, Marcus, Hennighausen, Hebebrand, & Schmidt, 1999), including a 40% higher chance of being obese than typically developing peers (Curtin, Anderson, Must, & Bandini, 2010). Also, children with ASD have an increased risk for gastrointestinal dysfunction like constipation, food allergy/ intolerance and diarrhea (Bresnahan et al, 2015).…”

Section: Eating Problems Among Children With Autism Spectrum Disordermentioning

confidence: 99%

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The sex-specific association between autistic traits and eating behavior in childhood: An exploratory study in the general population

et al. 2020

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Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) often exhibit problematic eating behaviors, an observation mostly based on male dominated, clinical ASD study samples. It is, however, important to evaluate both children with an ASD diagnosis and children with subclinical autistic traits as both often experience difficulties. Moreover, considering the suggestion of a possible girl-specific ASD phenotype, there is a need to determine whether autistic traits are related with problematic eating behaviors in girls as well. This study explores the sex-specific association between autism (both autistic traits and diagnosed ASD) and eating behavior in middle childhood in Generation R, a prospective population-based cohort from fetal life onwards. We collected parental reports of autistic traits at six years (Social Responsiveness Scale) and of eating behavior at ten years (Children's Eating Behaviour Questionnaire). In this cohort of 3559 children, autistic traits at six years were associated with more Picky Eating, Emotional Eating and Food Responsiveness in later childhood (e.g. adjusted B for Picky Eating = 0.07; 95% CI: 0.03, 0.11). Stratified analyses showed that in girls, autistic traits were associated with more Emotional Overeating and Emotional Undereating (e.g. adjusted B for Emotional Undereating = 0.12; 95% CI: 0.04, 0.20), while no associations were found for boys. Results comparing children with and without an ASD diagnosis in the cohort largely confirm these associations (e.g. in girls, adjusted B for Emotional Undereating = 0.72; 95% CI: 0.01, 1.42). Our results point to a sex-specific association between autism and eating behavior in middle childhood. Also, our study is the first study to show that autistic traits are associated with emotionally based eating problems in girls and possibly represent part of a girl-specific ASD phenotype.

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Section: Association Between Asd Diagnosis and Eating Behaviorsupporting

confidence: 69%

Section: Eating Problems Among Children With Autism Spectrum Disordermentioning

confidence: 99%

The sex-specific association between autistic traits and eating behavior in childhood: An exploratory study in the general population

et al. 2020

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“…This is particularly prevalent within specialized populations, such as children with developmental and/or physical disabilities (Jachyra, Anagnostou, Knibbe, et al, ; McPherson, Hamilton, et al, ). For example, weight‐related treatment in paediatric autism spectrum disorder (ASD) involves addressing myriad factors such as restrictive dietary patterns, atypical antipsychotic medication related weight gain, and increased sedentary behaviours (Matheson & Douglas, ). Children with ASD experience higher rates of overweight and obesity compared with the general population (Criado et al, ; Jachyra, Anagnostou, Knibbe, et al, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Putting positive weight‐related conversations into practice: The pilot implementation of a Knowledge Translation Casebook

Bonder

Provvidenza

Hubley

et al. 2020

Child

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Background Healthcare professionals (HCPs) play an important role in discussing weight with children and their parents but report barriers such as lack of training and supports. These barriers are especially prevalent within specialized populations such as children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). To address this, a Knowledge Translation Casebook on positive weight‐related conversations was developed by a research team at a Canadian paediatric hospital. The purpose of the current pre‐implementation pilot study was to explore initial acceptability and adoption of the Casebook into clinical settings. Methods An interactive, multimodal education workshop was created to provide HCPs with knowledge and training on how to have positive weight‐related conversations with children and parents. Two workshops were conducted using the same curriculum but delivered either in‐person or online. Participants were drawn from a team of clinicians at a teaching hospital whose care focuses on medication management for clients with ASD and clinicians participating in a distance learning programme on best practice care for clients with ASD. Participants completed a demographic questionnaire, workshop evaluation, and a pre‐workshop and post‐workshop questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize demographic, questionnaire, and survey data. Answers to open‐ended questions were analysed using content analysis. Results Participants agreed that the workshop gave them a clear understanding of the Casebook's content and helped them easily navigate the Casebook. Based on raw scores, self‐efficacy in having weight‐related conversations seemed to increase from pre‐to post‐workshop, but reported weight‐management clinical practice scores did not change over time. However, the small sample precluded in‐depth statistical analysis. Conclusions The Casebook was acceptable and appeared to increase self‐efficacy about having weight‐related conversations with children with ASD and parents. More robust implementation strategies are needed to foster the uptake of best practices in weight‐related conversations into clinical practice.

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“…For example, youth with attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder, depression and behavioural disorders who have difficulty with self‐regulation may overeat . Similarly, youth with autism spectrum disorder may have food aversions that lead to overconsumption of processed foods . In addition, the presence of a chronic condition is associated with decreased physical activity and increased levels of sedentary behaviour due to barriers at all levels of the social‐ecological model .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…10 Similarly, youth with autism spectrum disorder may have food aversions that lead to overconsumption of processed foods. 11 In addition, the presence of a chronic condition is associated with decreased physical activity and increased levels of sedentary behaviour due to barriers at all levels of the social-ecological model. 12 This has been documented for youth with a range of chronic conditions and disabilities.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Prevalence of overweight among youth with chronic conditions in the United States: An update from the 2016 National Survey of Children's Health

et al. 2019

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Summary Background Surveillance of overweight trends among youth with chronic conditions can inform the prioritization of funding, research and intervention. Objectives The primary objective of this study was to utilize the 2016 National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH) data to provide current estimates of the prevalence of overweight among US youth with common chronic conditions. A secondary purpose was to examine parental concern about weight status among youth with chronic conditions who were overweight. Methods This study included children aged 10 to 17 years with (n=10 997) and without (n=13 408) chronic conditions from the 2016 NSCH. Estimates of overweight, and parental concern for weight status, were compared among youth with 19 common chronic conditions and youth without chronic conditions. Results Overall, youth with chronic conditions were significantly more likely to be overweight compared with youth without chronic conditions (35.4% vs 27.8%). Overweight was most prevalent among youth with diabetes (56.4%), intellectual disabilities (53.6%) and hearing impairments (46.1%). Parents of youth with chronic conditions who were overweight were significantly more concerned that their child's weight was too high than those without chronic conditions. Conclusions This study identifies youth with chronic conditions, particularly those with certain conditions, as being in need of prioritization of funding, research and intervention.

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Overweight and Obesity in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): a Critical Review Investigating the Etiology, Development, and Maintenance of this Relationship

Cited by 65 publications

References 132 publications

The sex-specific association between autistic traits and eating behavior in childhood: An exploratory study in the general population

The sex-specific association between autistic traits and eating behavior in childhood: An exploratory study in the general population

Putting positive weight‐related conversations into practice: The pilot implementation of a Knowledge Translation Casebook

Prevalence of overweight among youth with chronic conditions in the United States: An update from the 2016 National Survey of Children's Health

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