The association between maternal features and nutritional problems in children with autism spectrum disorder

ABSTRACT Objective In the literature, there is almost no data on the relationship between autistic children’s nutritional problems and their mothers’ demographic and nutritional characteristics. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate whether there was a relationship between maternal features and nutritional problems in autistic children. Methods This study was conducted with the participation of 58 autistic children (6-19 years) and their mothers. Descriptive data were obtained with a general questionnaire. For the evaluation of children’s nutritional status, anthropometric measurements and 24-hour dietary recall were used. Also, the Brief Autism Mealtime Behavior Inventory and ORTO-15 questionnaires were used to evaluate the meal behavior of children and orthorexia tendency of mothers, respectively. Results No significant correlation was found between the Brief Autism Mealtime Behavior Inventory scores in children of mothers with high and low orthorexia tendency. There were also no statistically significant differences between the children of mothers with high and low educational level in terms of Brief Autism Mealtime Behavior Inventory scores. Only the dietary vitamin B6 intake was significantly higher in the children of mothers with high educational level. Maternal age was associated with the dietary energy and protein intake, unlike, maternal orthorexia tendency was not associated with the nutritional status and meal behavior of children. The abdominal pain experience in the last one month was found to be significantly higher in the children of employed mothers than children of unemployed mothers. Conclusion It is thought that the maternal characteristics are not effective on meal behavior in children and also maternal age and educational status have a very limited effect on the nutritional status of children.

摘要
目的 现有文献中几乎未见关于自闭症儿童营养问题与其母亲人口统计学及营养特征之间关联的相关数据。本研究旨在评估母亲特征与自闭症儿童营养问题之间是否存在相关性。
方法 本研究纳入58名6~19岁的自闭症儿童及其母亲参与。通过一般调查问卷收集描述性数据。针对儿童营养状况的评估，采用人体测量学指标及24小时膳食回顾法（24-hour dietary recall）。此外，分别使用简明自闭症进餐行为量表（Brief Autism Mealtime Behavior Inventory）与饮食倾向筛查量表ORTO-15（ORTO-15），以评估儿童进餐行为及母亲的正食症倾向。
结果 母亲正食症倾向得分高低两组的儿童，其简明自闭症进餐行为量表得分无显著相关性。母亲受教育程度高低两组的儿童，其简明自闭症进餐行为量表得分亦无统计学显著性差异。仅母亲受教育程度较高组的儿童，其膳食维生素B6摄入量显著更高。母亲年龄与儿童膳食能量及蛋白质摄入量存在关联；而母亲的正食症倾向与儿童营养状况及进餐行为均无关联。在职母亲的子女在近1个月内的腹痛发生率，显著高于非在职母亲的子女。
结论 本研究提示，母亲特征对儿童进餐行为无显著影响，且母亲年龄与受教育程度对儿童营养状况的影响亦极为有限。