Dietary and Supplement-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use in Pediatric Autism Spectrum Disorder
Open accessAbstract
Previous literature has shown that complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is steadily increasing in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, little data is currently available regarding its use, safety, and efficacy in children with ASD. Thus, the purpose of this study is to describe the use of supplement-based CAM therapies in children between the ages of 4 to 17 years with ASD. This population-based, cross-sectional study evaluated children with ASD regarding supplement use. A total of 210 participants were recruited from a variety of sources including educational and physical activity programs, and social media to complete a questionnaire. Primary caregivers provided information on current supplement based CAM use. Data evaluated the proportion of children that used supplement therapies, the types of supplements used, reasons for use, perceived safety, and demographic factors associated with use (e.g., income, parental education, severity of disorder). Seventy-five percent of children with ASD consumed supplements with multivitamins (77.8%), vitamin D (44.9%), omega 3 (42.5%), probiotics (36.5%), and magnesium (28.1%) as the most prevalent. Several supplements, such as adrenal cortex extract, where product safety has not yet been demonstrated, were also reported. A gluten free diet was the most common specialty diet followed amongst those with restrictions (14.8%). Health care professionals were the most frequent information source regarding supplements; however, 33% of parents reported not disclosing all their child’s supplements to their physician. In conclusion, the use of supplement therapies in children with ASD is endemic and highlights the need for further research concerning public health education surrounding safety and efficacy.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In a sizeable proportion of individuals with ASD, dietary intervention is a form of complementary and alternative medicine.
“Evidence shows that in a sizeable proportion of individuals with ASD, the dietary intervention is a form of complementary and alternative medicine, i.e., practices and products that are not part of conventional Western medical care [51].”
The difference in supplement types may result from supplements being commonly given in ASD as complementary and alternative therapy to reduce behavioral symptoms, increase social skills, or improve sleep.
“This may result from the fact that supplements are in ASD commonly given as a form of complementary and alternative therapy with the aim to reduce the behavioral symptoms, such as repetitive behavior, to increase social skills, or to improve sleep [51].”
Besides vitamins and minerals, the most commonly used supplements included probiotics and omega-3 PUFAs.
“As shown by our results and supported by a study of Trudeau at al. [51], besides vitamins and minerals, the most commonly used supplements included probiotics and omega-3 PUFAs.”
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
American Psychiatric Association (2013) · doi:10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596 · Cited by 116,369 · see citing works
Lai, M.-C., Lombardo, M. V., & Baron-Cohen, S. (2014) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(13)61539-1 · Cited by 2,371 · see citing works
Interactions Between Herbal Medicines and Prescribed Drugs: An Updated Systematic Review
Izzo, A. A., & Ernst, E. (2009) · Drugs · doi:10.2165/11317010-000000000-00000 · Cited by 801 · see citing works
Disclosure of CAM use to medical practitioners: a review of qualitative and quantitative studies
Robinson, A., & McGrail, M. R. (2004) · Complementary Therapies in Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.ctim.2004.09.006 · Cited by 409 · see citing works
The Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Pediatrics
Kemper, K. J., Vohra, S., Walls, R., the Task Force on Complementary and Alternative Medicine, & the Provisional Section on Complementary, H. (2008) · PEDIATRICS · doi:10.1542/peds.2008-2173 · Cited by 334 · see citing works
Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine among Children Diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Hanson, E. M., Kalish, L. A., Bunce, E., Curtis, C. M., McDaniel, S., Ware, J., & Petry, J. J. (2006) · Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders · doi:10.1007/s10803-006-0192-0 · Cited by 302 · see citing works
Effect of a vitamin/mineral supplement on children and adults with autism
Adams, J. B., AUDHYA, T. K., McDonough-Means, S. I., Rubin, R. A., Quig, D. W., Geis, E., Gehn, E., Loresto, M., Mitchell, J., Atwood, S., et al. (2011) · BMC Pediatrics · doi:10.1186/1471-2431-11-111 · Cited by 297 · see citing works
Bryson, S. E., Rogers, S. J., & Fombonne, E. J. (2003) · The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1177/070674370304800802 · Cited by 275 · see citing works
Ketogenic diet modifies the gut microbiota in a murine model of autism spectrum disorder
Newell, C., Bomhof, M. R., Reimer, R. A., Hittel, D. S., Rho, J. M., & Shearer, J. (2016) · Molecular Autism · doi:10.1186/s13229-016-0099-3 · Cited by 272 · see citing works
Saad, K., Abdel-rahman, A. A., Elserogy, Y. M., Al-Atram, A. A., Cannell, J. J., Bjørklund, G., Abdel-Reheim, M. K., Othman, H. A. K., El-Houfey, A. A., Abd El-Aziz, N. H. R., et al. (2016) · Nutritional Neuroscience · doi:10.1179/1476830515y.0000000019 · Cited by 244 · see citing works
Levy, S. E., Mandell, D. S., Merhar, S. L., Ittenbach, R. F., & Pinto‐Martin, J. A. (2003) · Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics · doi:10.1097/00004703-200312000-00003 · Cited by 191 · see citing works
Vitamin D and autism, what’s new?
Cannell, J. J. (2017) · Reviews in Endocrine and Metabolic Disorders · doi:10.1007/s11154-017-9409-0 · Cited by 175 · see citing works
Nutritional and Dietary Interventions for Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review
Sathe, N., Andrews, J. C., McPheeters, M. L., & Warren, Z. E. (2017) · PEDIATRICS · doi:10.1542/peds.2017-0346 · Cited by 138 · see citing works
Ketogenic diet versus gluten free casein free diet in autistic children: a case-control study
El-Rashidy, O. F., El-Baz, F. M., Gendy, Y. G. E., Khalaf, R. I., Reda, D., & Saad, K. (2017) · Metabolic Brain Disease · doi:10.1007/s11011-017-0088-z · Cited by 135 · see citing works
Dietary Supplement Usage, Motivation, and Education in Young Canadian Athletes
Wiens, K., Erdman, K. A., Stadnyk, M., & Parnell, J. A. (2014) · International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism · doi:10.1123/ijsnem.2013-0087 · Cited by 119 · see citing works
Self-citationSanders, H., Davis, M. F., Duncan, B., Meaney, F. J., Haynes, J., & Barton, L. L. (2003) · PEDIATRICS · doi:10.1542/peds.111.3.584 · Cited by 117 · see citing works
Complementary and Alternative Therapies for Autism Spectrum Disorder
Brondino, N., Fusar-Poli, L., Rocchetti, M., Provenzani, U., Barale, F., & Politi, P. (2015) · Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine · doi:10.1155/2015/258589 · Cited by 116 · see citing works
Gluten- and casein-free diet and autism spectrum disorders in children: a systematic review
Piwowarczyk, A., Horvath, A., Łukasik, J., Pisula, E., & Szajewska, H. (2017) · European Journal of Nutrition · doi:10.1007/s00394-017-1483-2 · Cited by 115 · see citing works
Huffman, L. C., Sutcliffe, T. L., Tanner, I. S. D., & Feldman, H. M. (2010) · Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics · doi:10.1097/dbp.0b013e3182040acf · Cited by 100 · see citing works
Stewart, P. A., Hyman, S. L., Schmidt, B. L., Macklin, E. A., Reynolds, A., Johnson, C. R., James, S. J., & Manning-Courtney, P. (2015) · Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics · doi:10.1016/j.jand.2015.03.026 · Cited by 87 · see citing works
Effect of a ketogenic diet on autism spectrum disorder: A systematic review
Castro, K., Faccioli, L. S., Baronio, D., Gottfried, C., Perry, I. S., & dos Santos Riesgo, R. (2015) · Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.rasd.2015.08.005 · Cited by 64 · see citing works
Dietary Intakes and Supplement Use in Pre-Adolescent and Adolescent Canadian Athletes
Parnell, J. A., Wiens, K., & Erdman, K. A. (2016) · Nutrients · doi:10.3390/nu8090526 · Cited by 62 · see citing works
Self-citationIntegrative Approaches to Caring for Children with Autism
Klein, N., & Kemper, K. J. (2016) · Current problems in pediatric and adolescent health care · doi:10.1016/j.cppeds.2015.12.004 · Cited by 45 · see citing works
Anagnostou, E. A., & Hansen, R. L. (2011) · Current Opinion in Pediatrics · doi:10.1097/mop.0b013e32834cba3e · Cited by 30 · see citing works
Surette, S., Vanderjagt, L., & Vohra, S. (2011) · Complementary Therapies in Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.ctim.2011.08.006 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
Over-the-Counter Adrenal Supplements: More Than Meets the Eye
Hurt, R. T., & Mundi, M. S. (2018) · Mayo Clinic Proceedings · doi:10.1016/j.mayocp.2018.01.019 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
González-Domenech, P. J., Díaz Atienza, F., García Pablos, C., Fernández Soto, M. L., Martínez-Ortega, J. M., & Gutiérrez-Rojas, L. (2020) · Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders · doi:10.1007/s10803-019-04333-1 · Cited by 76 · see citing works
Babinska, K., Celusakova, H., Belica, I., Szapuova, Z., Waczulikova, I., Nemcsicsova, D., Tomova, A., & Ostatnikova, D. (2020) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph17176372 · Cited by 74 · see citing works
- Authors
- Trudeau, M. S., Madden, R. F., Parnell, J. A., Gibbard, W. B., & Shearer, J.
- Affiliations
- University of Calgary (CA)
- Mount Royal University (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Trudeau, Melanie S.
- Venue
- Nutrients
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2019-08-01
- Volume
- 11
- Issue
- 8
- Pages
- 1783
- ISSN
- 2072-6643 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC6724073
- OpenAlex
- W2966069040
- Cited by
- 59
- References
- 26
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 17 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 3
- FWCI
- 10.96
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- dx.doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Nutrients (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Alberta Innovates - Health Solutions (N/A)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Complementary and alternative medicine › Complementary and Alternative Medicine Studies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Child Nutrition and Feeding Issues
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
- Keywords
- autism spectrum disorder, complementary and alternative medicine, dietary supplements, children, multivitamins, vitamin D, omega-3 fatty acids, probiotics, magnesium, gluten-free diet, supplement safety, disclosure to physicians, parental education, health information sources
- MeSH terms
- Autism Spectrum Disorder, Adolescent, Adolescent Behavior, Age Factors, Complementary Therapies, Child, Child Behavior, Child Development, Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena, Child, Preschool, Cross-Sectional Studies, Diet, Female, Humans, Male, Nutritional Status, Nutritive Value, Surveys and Questionnaires, Treatment Outcome, Risk Assessment, Dietary Supplements, Adolescent Development
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
