Narratives of mothers of children with autism spectrum disorders: Focus on eating behavior
Open accessAbstract
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the eating behavior of individuals with autism through their mothers' narratives. METHODS: The study of narratives was used to report on the narrators' experiences. Data on the eating habits of individuals with autism were collected using semi-structured interviews held individually with the mothers. The interviews were recorded, transcribed and codified using the NVivo software program. RESULTS: Eighteen mothers of boys/young men with autism participated in the study. Analysis yielded three major categories: eating patterns, the family's attitudes to the child's eating habits, and food-related behavior. CONCLUSION: Results show that autism-related factors may affect the child's food choices. Environmental factors, particularly the parents' behavior, may also play a decisive role, both in reinforcing the child's food choices and in encouraging a healthier and more diversified diet. Professionals should instruct parents regarding their decisive role in reinforcing or discouraging inappropriate mealtime behavior in children with autism.
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Eating behavior problems are characteristic of ASD.
“Eating behavior problems are characteristics of ASD [5,6,7].”
From Dietary Patterns, Eating Behavior, and Nutrient Intakes of Spanish Preschool Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (2021) · cites this paper as [5]
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- Authors
- Lázaro, C. P., & Pondé, M. P.
- Affiliations
- Escola Bahiana de Medicina e Saúde Pública (BR)
- Venue
- Trends in Psychiatry and Psychotherapy
- Publisher
- FapUNIFESP (SciELO)
- Published
- 2017-09
- Volume
- 39
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 4-11
- ISSN
- 2237-6089 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2757140893
- Cited by
- 69
- References
- 30
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 28 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 3
- FWCI
- 1.13
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- diamond
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by-nc
- Locations
- Trends in Psychiatry and Psychotherapy (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- Americanae (AECID Library) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Redalyc (Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (029/2012)
- Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado da Bahia (029/2012)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Child Nutrition and Feeding Issues
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Nutrition, Health and Food Behavior
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
- Keywords
- autism spectrum disorder, dietary habits, motherhood narratives, mealtime behavior, food-related behavior, children with autism, dietary diversity
- MeSH terms
- Autism Spectrum Disorder, Adolescent, Adult, Feeding and Eating Disorders, Attitude to Health, Child, Child Behavior, Child, Preschool, Feeding Behavior, Female, Humans, Interviews as Topic, Male, Middle Aged, Mothers, Narration, Young Adult
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