2017 Volume 55 Issue 1 Pages 11-17
Dietary issues in toddlers and preschool children are not limited to those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but are also encountered in neurotypical children. In this study, we examined the diets of children with ASD, as well as neurotypical toddler and preschool-aged children attending nursery school (school children) to elucidate these issues. The subjects were 61 ASD and 55 school children who used dietary counseling. We compared consultation documents available for the ASD group with questionnaires obtained from the guardians of the school children, and found that 74.5% of that latter group had issues with diet. Items of concern for the guardians included a small number of questions regarding eating function,such as “not chewing food” and “shoving food”, which were of greater concern as compared to eating behavior problems, such as “picky eater” and “taking too much time”. These findings may be associated with hunger and a desire to eat, and dietary issues in toddlers and preschool children should be addressed while taking overall lifestyle into consideration. There were also several cases of guardians of school children who showed concerns over eating behavior, though the breakdown was different and those were more serious in ASD children. We concluded that conditions related to ASD are involved in issues with eating behavior, indicating that a specific response is needed.
