Using parent workgroups to expand the diet of a child with autism

Background/Objectives Children with autism can have restricted diets. This is a source of stress for parents who want their child to eat a balanced diet. For the child, their health and energy levels can be affected. There is... [ view full abstract ]

Background/Objectives
Children with autism can have restricted diets. This is a source of stress for parents who want their child to eat a balanced diet. For the child, their health and energy levels can be affected. There is also the social impact to consider as access to social opportunities such as eating out or with friends can be difficult. Our organisation has successfully expanded children’s diets using home based interventions; however this uses a great deal of resources. We therefore sought to find a less resource heavy method of delivery.

Methodology
We have run 5 diet workgroups with 19 parents who had children aged 4-11, all diagnosed with autism. 6X2hr sessions were provided where a Project Worker led the group to design and implement strategies. This included profiling why their child’s diet is restricted and developing targets and strategies to introduce new foods. Parents used these methods between sessions and progress was reviewed in meetings. We then provided information on integrating and maintaining new foods in the child’s diet.

Results
For 11 families, the child’s diet expanded with novel foods being included in mealtimes. The other 8 families experienced success with introducing target foods but had not yet integrated these into their child’s regular diet.


Conclusion/Perspective
A restricted diet can be expanded through a less intensive approach such as diet workgroups. However, some families require a more intensive approach with more direct work in their own home to achieve success.