Feeding problems, such as picky eating and food avoidance, are common in youth with autism. Other feeding and eating problems (e.g. disordered eating, fear of trying new foods, and insistence on specific food presentation) are also common in this population.
However, children with autism often have more chronic feeding problems that go beyond picky eating. This may mean the child won't eat an entire category of food such as proteins or vegetables. Or it may mean that a child exhibits intense problem behaviors when offered foods they don't like.
Feeding issues are common in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Feeding can be very stressful for the child and for the family. Helping your child overcome feeding issues can be a long, slow journey, but it is well worth the reward of better health and food flexibility.
Autism-related sensory aversions are another common reason for eating problems. As you may well know, another common symptom of autism is an insistence on “sameness.” This can cause extreme anxiety when the individual is presented with new foods.
An estimated 46–89% of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have feeding problems (Ledford and Gast 2006), which may include unusual eating patterns, rituals, and food selectivity (Sharp et al. 2013).
A recent review of scientific studies found that children with autism are five times more likely to have mealtime challenges such as extremely narrow food selections, ritualistic eating behaviors (e.g. no foods can touch) and meal-related tantrums.
Children on the autism spectrum are more likely to have a restricted diet, refusing more foods and eating a more limited food repertoire than their typically developing peers [4–6].
Many children who have autism experience great anxiety as mealtime approaches. The underlying reasons can include sensory aversions and fear of unfamiliar foods. Inadvertently, families can make the anxiety worse by trying to force a child to eat, setting up a pattern of mealtime stress.
Sensory issues, routines and rules around food, and interoception challenges make it harder for many autistic people to eat and judge their body's food needs. Understanding the root of the disordered eating behaviors will help an autistic person and their support system figure out what the best supports will be.
Children diagnosed with ASD often display sensory processing deficits that can affect their ability to interact with different foods. To a child with an oversensitive sensory system, food may look, sound, smell, feel, or taste offensive.
A high percentage of children within the autistic spectrum exhibit eating difficulties at different levels: refusal to breastfeed, refusal to transition to bottle feeding, or to transition from liquid to solid foods. In many cases these difficulties can already be seen during the first months of life.
Many studies found shorter breastfeeding duration in children with ASD versus children without ASD, which was consistent with our results, suggesting a possible protective effect of breastfeeding.
Some autistic children and teenagers have fussy eating or selective eating habits. This means children eat only a limited range of food.
Behavioral feeding problems have more of an emotional than a physical basis, and include all the disruptive or problematic behaviors that can come up at mealtimes. They can include things like throwing food, crying or screaming to get out of eating, stealing food from others, or refusing to eat.
Sensory based feeding difficulties occur when a child has a sensory aversion to certain types of food, usually based on their texture, taste, smell or look of the food. An assessment is required to discover the root cause of the food aversion and to identify what is the particular aversion.
The therapist will work slowly overtime by exploring new foods with your child, get them comfortable being around a variety of foods, improve the child's relationship with food, and eventually add new preferred foods, or maybe old used to eat foods, into their everyday lives.
Some autistic children might graze all day, and some might eat too much at meals. If your child has overeating habits, it's good to work out why. This can help you manage your child's eating behaviour. Some children eat more because their medicine increases their appetite.
Research also tells us that many individuals with autism tend to have strong preferences for carbohydrates and processed foods, while rejecting fruits and vegetables. This, too, may reflect an aversion to strong tastes and textures.
Third, many people affected by autism experience what we call hyperphagia. This is an intense desire to eat that goes beyond true hunger. Given unchecked access to food, someone with hyperphagia may eat almost constantly.
Signs of High-Functioning Autism in Children
May appear more mature for their age and have above-average intelligence. A tendency to avoid eye contact. Trouble deviating from a routine or adapting to changes. Trouble making friends and maintaining social relationships or not “fitting in” with peers.
Some more recommended food items that help autism symptoms include: Prebiotic-rich foods (apples, asparagus, leeks, garlic, onions, bananas, and chicory root) Probiotic-rich foods (yogurt, kefir, and cultured vegetables like kimchi)
Rapid eating is a common problem observed in individuals with developmental disabilities (McGimsey, 1977). This behavior can lead to serious health problems, such as vomiting and aspiration (Kedesky & Budd, 1998), and may be socially stigmatizing.
The taste of chicken nuggets is not overwhelming, a characteristic which is welcome to children with sensory issues. Research suggests that “many individuals with autism tend to have strong preferences for carbohydrates and processed foods, while rejecting fruits and vegetables.
Many autistic people experience hypersensitivity to bright lights or certain light wavelengths (e.g., LED or fluorescent lights). Certain sounds, smells, textures and tastes can also be overwhelming. This can result in sensory avoidance – trying to get away from stimuli that most people can easily tune out.
Sensory issues with food: Kids on the autism spectrum often express a strong preference for foods that feel a certain way in their mouths. Some prefer soft or creamy foods like yogurt, soup or ice cream; others need the stimulation that crunchy foods like Cheetos or — if a parent is lucky, carrots — provide.