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Open Access Macedonian Journal of Medical Sciences.

http://dx.doi.org/10.3889/oamjms.2015.051

Clinical Science

 

 

Dietary Patterns of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Study Based in Egypt


 

Nagwa Meguid1, Mona Anwar1*, Safaa Zaki2, Wafaa Kandeel3, Nihad Ahmed4, Ihab Tewfik5

1National Research Centre, Research on Children with Special Needs Department, Giza, Egypt; 2National Research Centre, Child Health Department, Giza, Egypt; 3National Research Centre, Biological Anthropology Department, Giza, Egypt; 4National Research Centre, Food Science and Nutrition Department, Giza, Egypt; 5Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Westminster, Life Science Department, London, United Kingdom


 

Abstract

 

 

AIM: In the hope to assist in tailoring individualized nutritional therapy, this study aimed to assess the nutritional status of autistic children.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 80 autistic children, divided into two groups: group 1 (aged 3- 5 years) and group 2 (aged 6-9 years). Diagnosis was performed based on the criteria for autistic disorder as defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Autism Diagnostic Interview Revised and Autism Rating Scale.

RESULTS: Socio-demographic data, anthropometric measurements and dietary intake patterns were recorded using a validated questionnaire. The daily intakes of calories and nutrients were converted to percentages of the Recommended Dietary Allowance or Dietary Reference Intake based on age- and gender-normalized DRIs. Plotting on the Egyptian sex-specific growth chart, BMI-z scores of both age groups were slightly overweight. Autistic children suffered inadequate intake of some micronutrients such as vitamin D and C, calcium, folate, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc, and iron, some deficiencies were highly significant especially at older age.

CONCLUSIONS: Tailoring a specially designed balanced diet with appropriate micronutrient supplementation may ameliorate the severity of autism symptoms and related abnormal behaviours.

..................

Citation: Meguid N, Anwar M, Zaki S, Kandeel W, Ahmed N, Tewfik I. Dietary Patterns of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Study Based in Egypt. OA Maced J Med Sci. http://dx.doi.org/10.3889/oamjms.2015.051
Key words: Autistic Children; anthropometric measurements; dietary intake; micronutrients; Egyptian.
*Correspondence: Prof. Mona Anwar. National Research Centre, Research on Children with Special Needs Department, El Bohouth Street - Dokki, Giza, Egypt. Phone: 0233371010. Fax: 0233370931. E-Mail: mona_anwar2@yahoo.com
Received: 14-Mar-2015; Revised: 24-Apr-2015; Accepted: 25-Apr-2015; Online first: 07-May-2015
Copyright: © 2015 Nagwa Meguid, Mona Anwar, Safaa Zaki, Wafaa Kandeel, Nihad Ahmed, Ihab Tewfik. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
 

 

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- Meguid N
- Anwar M
- Zaki S
- Kandeel W
- Ahmed N
- Tewfik I


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- Meguid N
- Anwar M
- Zaki S
- Kandeel W
- Ahmed N
- Tewfik I

 

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