The effect of nutritional behavior of children with autism spectrum disorder on mothers' quality of life

This descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the effect of nutritional behaviors of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) on the quality of life of mothers. The universe of the study consists of the mothers of 74 children between the ages of 2 and 6 with a diagnosis of autism who are registered in the Counseling Research Centers affiliated to Tokat and Yozgat Provincial Directorates of National Education. The mothers of 69 children with autism who agreed to participate in the study constituted the sample. The research data were prepared by the researcher between October 2019 and January 2020, including the "Family and Child Information Form", "Autism Meal Behavior Short Scale" and "Autism in Autism" Quality of Life Questionnaire-Parents Edition "scales. It was determined that 55.1% of the mothers participating in the study were nervous while feeding their children, and 37.7% were fussy. At the same time, it was determined that 89.9% of the mothers negatively affected the quality of life of the child from the feeding process and that living with a child with autism was a moderate problem. It was determined that 51.1% of the children with autism who participated in the study behaved aggressively during the meal and 28.9% chose to eat. As a result, it was concluded that the children of the mothers who participated in the study were affected by the feeding process and the quality of life of the mothers of children with negative nutritional behaviors was negatively affected. Therefore, pediatric nurses should be aware of the prevalence of nutritional problems in children diagnosed with autism, and should be informative, discerning and guiding the family with a child diagnosed with autism. Keywords: Autism spectrum disorder, child, nutrition, quality of life, pediatric nursing