EATING BEHAVIOR OF AUTISTIC CHILDREN
ABSTRACT: Association between
autism and eating problem has been discussed in US and European countries
recently, but there are only a few studies about that matter in Asian
countries. Objective: This study provides information about eating behavior in
autistic children in comparison with Typically Developing (TD) children in two
different countries, which are Japan and Indonesia. Method: Participants of
this study were 39 Japanese and 13 Indonesian parents with autistic children
and 197 Japanese and 144 Indonesian parents of TD. Ages of subjects were
between 3 to 6 years old. Eating behavior was evaluated by using Brief Autism
Mealtime Inventory (BAMBI) completed by parents. Result showed that commonly
children in both countries had eating behavior problems and children with
autistic showed more problems than TD children. It is estimated that autistic
children have a delay in eating development that may influence their eating
behaviors. It is also reported that cultural background can be considered as
another influencing factor in the difference of eating behavior in each
country. Conclusion: Our study provided information that Autism children have
problem in eating behavior. It needs to be noticed continually by clinicians
and parents, although problem in eating behavior is not a core feature of
autism; it can be an associate feature in autism.
Author: Maulina Handayani,
Elisabeth Siti Herini, Satoshi Takada
Journal Code: jpkeperawatangg120005