Relationship Between Food Selectivity, Adaptive Functioning and Behavioral Profile in Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Objectives: Atypical eating habits frequently characterize people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) from early infancy. Food selectivity, defined as a narrow variety of food intake and reticence to new food, is the most frequent feeding disorder in ASD. The objective of this study was to investigate the adaptive functioning and the behavioral profile of individuals with ASD with food selectivity (FS) in comparison to an ASD sample without food selectivity (NFS). Methods: We conducted a retrospective study on 286 children (mean age = 46.95 months) with a diagnosis of ASD; 43.3% of the sample had a history of food selectivity (FS), whereas 56.6% had no history of food selectivity (NFS). Results: No differences were found between the FS and NFS groups on cognition, autism symptom levels, and age. The FS group presented lower adaptive skills and greater behavioral problems in comparison to the NFS group. A worse clinical profile characterized children with more than one kind of food selectivity. Conclusions: The early identification and longitudinal evaluation of specific clinical and behavioral patterns in children with ASD associated with food selectivity could contribute to a better understanding of the relationship between autism symptoms and atypical eating habits.