A study of 13,000 British children found that children with autism tend to be picky eaters suffer from allergies. However, they are about the same height and weight as children without the disorder.

• Parents of autistic children as young as six months old told researchers that their children to longer to eat and refused more new foods.
• By the time the children with autism were ages four and five years old, 37% of their parents told researchers that they were very choosy eaters -- compared to only 14% of parents of children without the disorder.

"Although children with autism spectrum disorders are more difficult to feed and they eat less variety of food, this is not affecting the nutrients of their diet, their height, weight or BMIs," said Dr. Pauline Emmett of the University of Bristol.  "There doesn't seem to be any major cause for concern."

The study appears in the journal Pediatrics.
 

Labels: autism, eating_disorders

Posted By: Jane St. Clair