ArticleThe Journal of nutrition2022
Child Autistic Traits, Food Selectivity, and Diet Quality: A Population-Based Study.
Article in The Journal of nutrition, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed.
- Recruitment feasibility and dietary and behavioral patterns in toddlers with ASD: Preliminary results from the Autism Eats program.Contemporary clinical trials · 2024Trial
- Dietary Diversity in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders, Feeding Difficulties, and Sensory Issues Related to Eating-A Case-Control Study.Nutrients · 2026Article
- The Mediating Role of Eating Behaviors Between Autistic Symptoms and Dietary Issues Among Chinese Children With Autism.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2025Article
- Holistic approach to Turkish children with autism spectrum disorder: diet quality and diversity, gastrointestinal and nutritional problems and quality of life perspective.BMC pediatrics · 2025Article
- Associations Between Screen Time, Sleep Quality, Diet Quality and Food Selectivity Among School-Aged Autistic Children.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2025Article
- Article
- Diet Quality of Midwest Adolescents and Young Adults With Intellectual Disabilities and Overweight/Obesity Differs by Diagnosis but Not by Weight Category.Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics · 2025Article
- Metabolomics of mothers of children with autism, idiopathic developmental delay, and Down syndrome.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- A Scoping Review of Tools to Assess Diet in Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder.Nutrients · 2023Article
- Child ADHD and autistic traits, eating behaviours and weight: A population-based study.Pediatric obesity · 2022Article
- The different trends in the burden of neurological and mental disorders following dietary transition in China, the USA, and the world: An extension analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019.Frontiers in nutrition · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundChildren with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) tend to be selective in their food intake, which may compromise their diet quality. While ASD diagnoses capture severe levels of impairment, autistic traits vary on a continuum throughout the population. Yet, little is known about how autistic traits relate to diet quality at the population level.
objectivesThis study examines the association between autistic traits in early childhood and diet quality in mid-childhood and explores the mediating role of food selectivity.
methodsParticipants were children (n = 4092) from the population-based Generation R Study. Parents reported their child's autistic traits at 1.5, 3, and 6 years; food selectivity at 4 years; and food intake at 8 years, from which a diet quality score was derived. Associations of autistic traits and the autistic trait trajectory (identified using Latent Class Growth Modelling) with diet quality were examined using multiple linear regression models. The indirect effect of food selectivity in the association between autistic traits at 1.5 years and diet quality was examined using mediation analysis.
resultsAutistic traits were associated with diet quality (e.g., 1.5 years: β = -0.09; 95% CI: -0.13 to -0.06). Two classes captured the autistic trait trajectories from 1.5 to 6 years: children with "low and stable" (95%) and "high and increasing" (5%) mean scores. Children in the high and increasing group had poorer diet quality than those in the low and stable group (β = -0.28; 95% CI: -0.44 to -0.11). Food selectivity mediated the association between autistic traits at 1.5 years and diet quality at 8 years (βindirect = -0.03; 95% CI: -0.03 to -0.02).
conclusionsAutistic traits in early childhood are associated with poorer diet quality in mid-childhood, and food selectivity appears to mediate this association. Interventions intended to optimize nutrition in children with elevated autistic traits may integrate behavioral strategies to support parents' responding to their child's food selectivity.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.