Does nutritional intake differ between children with Autism Spectrum Disorders and children with typical development?

A large proportion of both groups did not meet the dietary recommended intake for vitamin D (88% of children with ASD and 75% of typically developing children, p = 0.16), a finding confirmed by others.

“A large proportion of both groups did not meet the dietary recommended intake for vitamin D (88% of children with ASD and 75% of typically developing children, p = 0.16), a finding confirmed by others [137,138].”

Many studies show ASD children have a considerably smaller variety of foods but no overall differences in total calories, carbohydrates, or fat intakes compared with typically developing children, suggesting satiety mechanisms are not impaired.

“However, in many studies children with ASDs show a considerably smaller variety of foods, but authors report no overall differences in their total calories, carbohydrates, or fat intakes [62,71,72,73,74], suggesting that their satiety mechanisms are not impaired.”

Protein intake in ASD children is adequate or quite similar to that of typically developing children.

“Protein intake was adequate or quite similar to that of typically developing children [69,72,73,74,75,76,77].”

ASD children eat fewer vegetables and more energy-dense foods, so fiber intake is inadequate in a considerable number of children with ASD.

“Children with ASDs eat fewer vegetables and eat more energy-dense foods [76,78], so fiber intake was inadequate in a considerable number of children with ASDs [71,73,79,80].”

A substantial number of subjects with ASDs had inadequate intakes of micronutrients, including deficiencies of calcium, iron, zinc, potassium, copper, vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin E, riboflavin, vitamin C, vitamin B-12, folic acid, and choline.

“Substantial number of subjects with ASDs had inadequate intakes of micronutrients.”