Current Nutritional Therapy Approaches in Autism Treatment

Abstract

Autism is a lifelong neurodevelopmental disorder including impairments in social interaction and communication along with repetitive and restrictive behaviors. There are different approaches in autism therapy such as evidence-based practices, comprehensive therapy models, complementary and alternative medicines (special nutrition programs, vitamin-mineral supplements, etc.) and psychotherapeutic medicines. There is not a specific nutrition therapy approach since symptoms occur with different severity in autistic children as well as coexisting diseases are different and the reason for autism is not completely understood. Frequently observed food selectivity, eating behavior disorders and gastrointestinal problems may cause nutritional deficiency and other problems related to these deficiencies in autistic children. The aims of the nutrition therapy are usually to substitute for insufficient nutritional elements and the treatment of coexisting diseases. Since the applied nutrition therapy approaches do not have the same effect on autistic children, they must be evaluated individually for each child and a personal nutrition plan and strategy must be developed for each child. It should be aimed to increase the quality of life with nutrition strategies and applications suitable for the child by examining nutritional deficiencies, coexisting diseases and the child’s approach to food. The aim of this review paper is to identify the relationship between autism and nutrition and to examine the effects of nutrition therapy approaches applied to autistic children on the basis of the current literature.