Recent Studies on Feeding Problems in Children With Autism

Abstract

This paper reviews recent studies on behavioral interventions for children with autism and feeding problems. The applicability of interventions that have been tested with other populations of children with feeding problems is discussed, as well as directions for future research.

Maternal Perceptions of Mealtimes: Comparison of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Children with Typical Development

“…The findings have shown that children with ASD were more likely to exhibit restrictive and inflexible eating behaviors, eat continually throughout the day instead of during specific mealtimes, resist sitting at the table, and throw or dump food during mealtimes compared to children who are typically developing (Koegel et al, 2012;Matson et al, 2009;Volkert & Vaz, 2010). It has been reported that children with ASD exhibited adherence to sameness during mealtimes (Ahearn et al, 2001;Koegel et al, 2012).…”

Feeding Issues Associated with the Autism Spectrum Disorders

“…A number of studies have shown the effectiveness of behavioral interventions for increasing acceptance of new foods [15,16,96]. However, there are only a few studies demonstrating that acceptance of new foods generalizes to other foods or other environments and that preferences of the child have been taken into account [97,98].…”

“…Physical guidance and non-withdrawal of the spoon are the general methods used for this situation [15]. The spoon is presented to the child and kept near his mouth until the food is accepted.…”

“…Even if the association remains unclear, a high prevalence of asthmatic children, particularly with nocturnal asthma, have gastro-esophageal reflux (GER) [9]. Both feeding and eating, the processing of food and drink in the mouth and swallowing, are also known as activities of daily living (ADL) and studies examining the specific problems of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), found that 46 to 89% have feeding problems [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18].…”

The Teaspoon Method; A Simple Training Program for Feeding Disorders in High Functioning Autistic Children

“…Most of the time, one of the parents recognizes a self characteristic in their child; "I also don't like yoghurt with pieces of fruit", or "I don't like vegetables either". At the other end of the spectrum, the very severely restricted feeding disorder usually requires intensive treatment in an outpatient setting or an inpatient treatment for several weeks/months [7] [8]. However, this intensive treatment is not available or suitable for every child.…”