Serena Coppola, Rita Nocerino, Franca Oglio, Paola Golia, Maria Candida Falco, Maria Pia Riccio, Laura Carucci, Teresa Rea, Silvio Simeone, Raffaele Garotti, Nadia Marani, Carmela Bravaccio, Roberto Berni Canani
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: To assess the adverse food reactions (AFR) prevalence in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and in non-ASD healthy controls (NASD). Nutritional status alterations, food selectivity and adherence to Mediterranean Diet (MD) were also evaluated.
Methods: The NAFRA (Nutritional status and Adverse Food Reactions in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder) project was an observational, case-control, comparative study conducted at a tertriary center for pediatrics involving Caucasian patients of both sexes, aged 18 months-7 years, with a diagnosis of ASD, and matched NASD controls.
Results: From October 2017 to December 2023, 100 ASD patients [79 male, mean (± SD) age 49.9 months (± 15.4)] and 100 NASD controls [75 male, mean (± SD) age 49.8 months (± 17.7)] were enrolled at the Pediatric Section of the Department of Translational Medical Science of the University of Naples Federico II. A significantly higher prevalence of AFR was observed in ASD patients if compared with NASD (16% vs. 2%, p = 0.001), mainly due to a higher prevalence of food allergy (7% vs. 1%, p = 0.03). A significantly higher prevalence of food intolerance and celiac disease was also observed in ASD children. The rate of obesity was significantly higher in ASD patients compared to NASD. Food selectivity and low MD-adherence were more frequent in ASD children (26% vs. 2%, p < 0.0001 and 28% vs. 16%, p = 0.041, respectively).
Conclusions: The high rate of AFR, obesity and unhealthy dietary habits observed in ASD children strongly suggest the importance of a multidisciplinary approach, providing early diagnosis of AFR and appropriate nutritional management to improve core and associated ASD-related conditions.
Trial registration: The NAFRA Project was registered on https://clinicaltrials.gov/ with the identifier NCT04719923. Registered 18 January 2021. https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT04719923 .
期刊介绍:
Italian Journal of Pediatrics is an open access peer-reviewed journal that includes all aspects of pediatric medicine. The journal also covers health service and public health research that addresses primary care issues.
The journal provides a high-quality forum for pediatricians and other healthcare professionals to report and discuss up-to-the-minute research and expert reviews in the field of pediatric medicine. The journal will continue to develop the range of articles published to enable this invaluable resource to stay at the forefront of the field.
Italian Journal of Pediatrics, which commenced in 1975 as Rivista Italiana di Pediatria, provides a high-quality forum for pediatricians and other healthcare professionals to report and discuss up-to-the-minute research and expert reviews in the field of pediatric medicine. The journal will continue to develop the range of articles published to enable this invaluable resource to stay at the forefront of the field.