Aspects related to food consumption in autistic children: a literature review

• Autor(a) principal: Silva, Fabíola Dias da
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Outros Autores: Fonseca, Tatiane Abreu, Silva, Vânia Maria Barboza da, Silva, Luísa Margareth Carneiro da
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Research, Society and Development
• Texto Completo: https://rsdjournal.org/index.php/rsd/article/view/26499
• topic: Transtorno do Espectro Autista; Comportamento Alimentar; Nutrição da criança; Autismo.; Autism Spectrum Disorder; Eating Behavior; Child Nutrition; Autism.; Trastorno del Espectro Autista; Comportamiento alimentario; Nutrición del Niño; Autismo.

Objective: to identify scientific evidence on aspects related to the food consumption of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) available in the literature so far. Methodology: This is a qualitative and exploratory literature review, with a theoretical approach, in which the databases used were: Virtual Health Library (BVS), Scientific Electronic Library Online (SCIELO), Latin American Literature and the Caribbean in Health Sciences (LILACS), National Library of Medicine (PUBMED), in addition to electronic journals and the CAPES journal, between the periods of 2017 and 2021. Results: After applying the defined inclusion and exclusion criteria, we added 14 articles. It was identified in the studies that children with ASD demonstrate high rates of overweight and obesity, in addition to gastrointestinal changes, which may be directly related to the high consumption of foods rich in calories. As for the behavior pattern, high selectivity and food refusal stood out. Conclusion: it is concluded that therapeutic behaviors, such as cooking workshops, nutritional education tasks, interaction of autistic children with food, in addition to constant stimulation and other strategies carried out by health professionals and parents/guardians to demonstrate and motivate about the importance of healthy eating are necessary for the improvement of these conditions