Exploration of the nutritional status and behaviours of some overweight and obese children with autism spectrum disorder in istanbul and the reasons of high body-mass indices in these children

This study was performed to determine the nutritional status of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) whose body mass indices (BMIs) were over 25.0 and explore the reasons of overweight and obese in these children. 80 individuals (aged between 12 – 18, males) with ASD were selected randomly after some anthropometric measurements (weight and height) were taken and their BMIs were calculated (BMIs over 25.0 were taken for the study). A total number of 80 individuals' parents/caretakers completed 4 questionnaires which are; General Questionnaire, Three Day Food Record, Feeding Assessment Survey (FAS) and International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ). Anthropometric measurements showed that 25 of the children were overweight and 55 of the children were obese. According to the results of three day food records, children's fibre, calcium and vitamin D intakes were inadequate and their cholesterol levels were found higher than normal limits. The results of feeding assessment survey revealed that the main feeding problems are: refuses to swallow/holds food in mouth (5 children), refuses to eat (3 children) and difficulty swallowing (1 child). Another major feeding problem is selectivity and 36,3% (29 children) of the children have selectivities. Most positively or negavitely selected foods are breads (10,3%), fruits (10,3%) and dairy products (17,2%). Drug usage showed that 29 children (36,3%) use drugs and 16 of them (57,1%) use antipsychotics and 16 of them (57,1%) use antiepileptics. Depending on the international physical activity questionnaire; 71 children (89%) had moderate physical activity level, 9 children (11%) had low physical activity level and none of the children had high physical activity level.