FOOD CONSUMPTION AND EATING BEHAVIOUR IN CHILDREN WITH ASD: AN INTEGRATIVE REVIEW

Abstract

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) typically present restricted and repetitive patterns in behavior, which ends up resulting in selective eating, generally associated with worse eating behavior that translates into greater consumption of ultra-processed foods and less consumption of in natura and minimally processed food. Therefore, the objective of this work is to analyze the relationship between the consumption of ultra-processed foods by children with ASD and their eating behavior. This is an integrative review of the literature carried out from the databases: PubMed and Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO), searching for articles that evaluated the consumption and eating behavior of childen with ASD. From the research, 6 original studies were included that found that children with ASD, in majority, have selective eating and a high consumption of ultra-processed foods and low consumption of in natura foods. These results were associated with the characteristics of autism, such as: altered sensory sensitivity and restricted, repetitive or rigid behavior, which affects the nutritional quality of these children, as well as their general health status. This eating pattern tends to be difficult to reverse, tending to perpetuate itself and can result in overweight and obesity, gastrointestinal disorders and nutritional inadequacy, which reinforces the importance of nutritional action in these cases.