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Volume 8 J Community Med Health Educ, an open access journal
ISSN: 2161-0711 Public Health 2018
February 26-28, 2018
PUBLIC HEALTH AND NUTRITION
3rd World Congress on
February 26-28, 2018 London, UK
FEEDING BEHAVIOR AND EATING HABITS OF CHILDREN WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM
DISORDER COMPARED TO TYPICALLY DEVELOPING CHILDREN: CASE-CONTROL
STUDY
Maha Hoteita, Batoul Hojeija, Diana Ezzedinea and Sarine El Daouka
aLebanese University, Lebanon
Background: Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may have restrictive and ritualistic behaviors that affect their
eating habits.
Aim: To identify and understand the feeding behavior and eating habits issues in ASD children when compared to matched
typically developing (TD) children. Furthermore, to assist in how to address feeding issues with parents/caregivers 'seeking for
dealing with these habits and behaviors.
Methods and procedures: Case- control study included 86 participants (43 children with ASD and 43 matched TD
controls). Feeding behavior and eating habits were assessed using two valid questionnaires: "Behavior Pediatric Feeding
Assessment"(BPFA) and "My Child Eating Habits questionnaires" respectively.
Results and outcomes: ASD children had higher BPFA scores for total frequency and problem scores (p=0.001, p<0.001) and
higher mealtime behavior problems than TD children. No differences between groups neither in refusing food when based on
presentation, color, texture nor in preferring based on crunchiness, smoothness, and temperature (p>0.05) was observed. ASD
children's parents had higher food refusal dealing strategies and therapy seeking (p=0.017).
Conclusion and implications: Most of the children with ASD have difficulties with sensory processing and this can make
eating certain foods a challenge for them, thus limiting food refusal and preference. Children with autism can also develop
behavioral problems during mealtimes and their parents adopt certain strategies to deal with these behaviors. These findings
allow us to endorse the importance of incorporating the evaluation of nutritional and feeding behavior problems within the
clinical routine in order to avoid nutritional deficiencies that lead to weight loss, malnutrition and inadequate growth.
Biography
Maha Hoteit is the Director of Master Program in Public Health Nutrition at the Faculty of Public Health at the Lebanese University. She has a PhD in Human
Nutrition-Nutrigenomics. Her research interests lies in the area of public health nutrition, ranging from surveys to clinical trials than to policies implementation. In
recent years, she has focused on studying the effect of nutritional interventions on health community's outcomes by spreading the term "Public Health Nutrition".
More than 20 publications observed lights between 2016 and 2017 aiming to improve the quality of life of communities living in the developing countries. Main
outcomes and topics were Non-Communicable diseases, Fruits and vegetables, Mediterranean diet, smoking ad body weight, physical activity and body markers,
autism and Nutrition, Body image and healthy lifestyle, Inflammatory bowel disease and nutrition and Vitamin D and Calcium supplementation in elderly.
Maha Hoteit et al., J Community Med Health Educ 2018, Vol 8
DOI: 10.4172/2161-0711-C1-032