nutrients-logo

Journal Browser

Journal Browser

Nutrition Profiles in Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders

A special issue of Nutrients (ISSN 2072-6643).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2021) | Viewed by 26142

Special Issue Editor


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Child Psychiatry and Psychopharmacology, IRCCS Stella Maris Foundation, 56018 Pisa, Italy
Interests: autism; neurodevelopmental disorders; psychology; psychoterapy; neurosciences; precision medicine
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In recent years, diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and neurodevelopmental conditions (e.g., ADHD) have significantly increased. Recent research contributes showed a linkage between nutrition profiles and ASD and neurodevelopmental conditions (ASD/NC). For example, persons with ASD/NC are more likely to have mealtime challenges such extreme food selectivity and ritualistic eating behaviors. Many studies also found inadequate nutrition to be more common among persons with ASD/NC than in those unaffected by the disorder. The researchers showed that chronic eating problems in persons with ASD/NC also increase the child's risk for social difficulties and poor academic achievement.

This Special Issue of Nutrients aims to present a collection of studies detailing the most recent advancements in the field of ASD/NC and nutrition profiles.

Authors are invited to submit cutting-edge research, reviews and single case reports that address a broad range of topics related to ASD/NC and nutrition profiles including the following topics: (1) gut–brain axis; (2) biomarkers; (3) anorexia nervosa and associations with autistic traits; (4) food selectivity; (5) systematic review and meta-analysis; (6) nutritional and environmental profiles; (7) impact of selective eating on social domains; (8) gastrointestinal problems; (9) sex-specific association between ASD/NC traits and eating behaviors; (10) use of technology (EEG; MR and other tools); (11) metabolic profiles; (12) transition to adult age.

In particular, we aim to present advances in autism research in the field of link between ASD/NC and nutrition profiles that may have a significant translational effect to the field of clinical services.

Dr. Antonio Narzisi
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Nutrients is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Autism
  • Eating profiles
  • Gut-brain
  • Biomarker
  • Neurodevelopmental disorders

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.

Published Papers (4 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Editorial

Jump to: Research

4 pages, 227 KiB  
Editorial
Nutrition and Autism Spectrum Disorder: Between False Myths and Real Research-Based Opportunities
by Antonio Narzisi, Gabriele Masi and Enzo Grossi
Nutrients 2021, 13(6), 2068; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13062068 - 17 Jun 2021
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 9012
Abstract
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a multicomplex disorder characterized by an umbrella of specific issues in the areas of social communication, restricted interests, and repetitive behaviors [...] Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nutrition Profiles in Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders)

Research

Jump to: Editorial

18 pages, 463 KiB  
Article
Eating Behaviors of Children with Autism—Pilot Study, Part II
by Beata Kazek, Anna Brzóska, Justyna Paprocka, Tomasz Iwanicki, Karolina Kozioł, Agnieszka Kapinos-Gorczyca, Wirginia Likus, Małgorzata Ferlewicz, Agnieszka Babraj, Agata Buczek, Irena Krupka-Matuszczyk and Ewa Emich-Widera
Nutrients 2021, 13(11), 3850; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13113850 - 28 Oct 2021
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3905
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder is characterized by social communication deficit and non-normative behavior. The people with autism often experience troubles with feeding. The purpose of this study was to conduct evaluation of the feeding and eating behaviors among children with autism. Patients and Methods: [...] Read more.
Autism spectrum disorder is characterized by social communication deficit and non-normative behavior. The people with autism often experience troubles with feeding. The purpose of this study was to conduct evaluation of the feeding and eating behaviors among children with autism. Patients and Methods: The study group included 41 high-functioning autistic children. The control group consisted of 34 children without the ASD. The questionnaire was used to assess the nutritional status. Results: The children with ASD fuss during mealtimes more frequently, they require entertaining and diverting their attention, they are fed by parents, and they consume their meals away from the table. The significant difference found in the use of utensils and food selectivity works to the disadvantage of the Study Group. Conclusions: The food selectivity occurs significantly more frequently among children with ASD. The feeding and eating problems should be considered on a wider scale. The cooperation of the multidisciplinary and the parents teams should be proposed in the ASD patients care. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nutrition Profiles in Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders)
Show Figures

Figure 1

15 pages, 432 KiB  
Article
Eating Behaviors of Children with Autism—Pilot Study
by Anna Brzóska, Beata Kazek, Karolina Kozioł, Agnieszka Kapinos-Gorczyca, Małgorzata Ferlewicz, Agnieszka Babraj, Anna Makosz-Raczek, Wirginia Likus, Justyna Paprocka, Paweł Matusik and Ewa Emich-Widera
Nutrients 2021, 13(8), 2687; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13082687 - 3 Aug 2021
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 6687
Abstract
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is the most recognized neuropsychiatric disorder of childhood. Comorbid conditions (such as feeding disorders) are more common among people with autism than among the general population. The most frequent somatic disorders in autistic children include the gastrointestinal disorders observed [...] Read more.
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is the most recognized neuropsychiatric disorder of childhood. Comorbid conditions (such as feeding disorders) are more common among people with autism than among the general population. The most frequent somatic disorders in autistic children include the gastrointestinal disorders observed in 46–91% of patients. The purpose of this study was the evaluation of the nutrition of children with autism, with particular emphasis placed on feeding in the first year of life, in comparison to the group of healthy peers. Participants included 75 Caucasian children (41 children diagnosed with pure autism, and the control group consisting of 34 children without autistic traits). The analysis was performed based on a questionnaire of own design with the first part devoted to the eating practices of the early infancy. Results: Autistic children, as compared to the healthy peers, presented a shortened time of breastfeeding (the children fell asleep at the breast) (p = 0.04), a delayed introduction of dairy products (p = 0.001), the need of more trials to introduce new foods (p = 0.006), a delayed introduction of foods with solid and lumpy structure (p = 0.004), a longer duration of bottle feeding (p = 0.005), delayed attempts to eating using own hands (p = 0.006) and needed a greater support of parents to divert their attention from food during eating (p = 0.05). Conclusions: 1. The dietary problems are more common among children with the autism spectrum disorder than among the population of healthy children, during the first year of life from the time of introducing the complementary foods. 2. The autistic children experience difficulties with eating and require their parents’ additional involvement significantly more often than their healthy peers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nutrition Profiles in Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders)
Show Figures

Figure 1

16 pages, 830 KiB  
Article
Fussy Eating among Children and Their Parents: Associations in Parent-Child Dyads, in a Sample of Children with and without Neurodevelopmental Disorders
by Sigrun Thorsteinsdottir, Annemarie Olsen and Anna S. Olafsdottir
Nutrients 2021, 13(7), 2196; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13072196 - 25 Jun 2021
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 4844
Abstract
Parents are important agents in shaping children’s eating habits. However, the associations between children’s and parents’ eating behaviors are complex and may be convoluted for various reasons, such as parenting feeding styles, stressful mealtimes, and children’s neurodevelopmental disorders (ND), such as Autism Spectrum [...] Read more.
Parents are important agents in shaping children’s eating habits. However, the associations between children’s and parents’ eating behaviors are complex and may be convoluted for various reasons, such as parenting feeding styles, stressful mealtimes, and children’s neurodevelopmental disorders (ND), such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The purpose of this study was to analyze associations between parents and their children’s fussy eating, in a cross-sectional sample of children, with and without ND. Ninety-seven parents answered screening questionnaires prior to an intervention study. Associations were investigated using two-way ANOVAs and chi-square analyses. Overall, children with ND accepted fewer food items and consumed unhealthier foods more frequently than children without ND. Fussy eating parents had children who accepted fewer food items and consumed unhealthier foods more frequently than children whose parents were not fussy eaters. Interaction effects were not significant. A higher proportion of fussy eating parents, than non-fussy eating parents, had children who had difficulties with combined foods and hidden ingredients. The findings highlight the need for further investigation into the relationships between parents’ influence on their children’s eating behavior and food consumption, as well as possible reciprocal impacts. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nutrition Profiles in Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop