NIH Radio
Thin Bones in Boys with Autism and Autism Spectrum Disorder
Brief Description:
Diary free diets and unusual food preference could put boys with autism and autism spectrum disorder at higher risk than normal for thin bones according to a study funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
Transcript:
Akinso: Diary free diets and unusual food preference could put boys with autism and autism spectrum disorder at higher risk than normal for thin bones according to a study funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Researchers believe that boys with autism and autism spectrum disorder are at risk for poor bone development for a number of reasons. Theses factors are lack of exercise, a reluctance to eat a varied diet, lack of vitamin D, digestive problems, and diets that exclude casein, a protein found in milk and milk products, which provide a significant source of calcium and vitamin D. Dr. Mary Hediger, a biological anthropologist in the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development's Division of Epidemiology Statistics and Prevention Research, explains that a deficiency of these important nutrients in the boys' diets could result from a variety of causes.
Hediger: They tend to have poor nutrition. Boys with autism or autism spectrum disorder have repetitive eating habits. And they have fairly restrictive food choices. Sometimes it has to do with texture preferences, all sorts of various things. That may mean they have an unbalanced diet. They tend to have decreased or limited physical activity. A lot of times parents will want to put their child on something called gluten or casein-free diet, because of a belief that these kinds of diets will help ameliorate the symptoms of autism. There's no real god evidence of this, but it is so common to see on the internet and sort of word of mouth parents that this works that a lot of parents who have children with autism will try anything and this is one of the things they'll try.
Akinso: According to Dr. Hediger researchers recommended that larger studies be conducted to confirm their results. She added that parents of children with autism or autism spectrum disorder should speak with a dietitian during their children's routine medical care to make sure that their diets are balanced. This is Wally Akinso at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.
About This Audio Report
Date: 3/7/2008
Reporter: Wally Akinso
Sound Bite: Dr. Mary Hediger
Topic: Autism, Autism Spectrum Disorder,
ASD
Institute(s):
NICHD
Social Media Links