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Dietary Patterns: Do Children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders Eat Differently? (2nd Edition)

A special issue of Nutrients (ISSN 2072-6643). This special issue belongs to the section "Pediatric Nutrition".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 1 July 2025 | Viewed by 4361

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Laura María Compañ Gabucio

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Unidad de Epidemiología de la Nutrición (EPINUT), Departamento de Salud Pública, Historia de la Ciencia y Ginecología, Universidad Miguel Hernández (UMH), 03550 Alicante, Spain
2. Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria y Biomédica de Alicante (ISABIAL), 03010 Alicante, Spain
3. CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28034 Madrid, Spain
Interests: epidemiology; nutrition; reviews; neurodevelopment; infancy and occupational therapy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Laura Torres-Collado

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Unidad de Epidemiología de la Nutrición (EPINUT), Departamento de Salud Pública, Historia de la Ciencia y Ginecología, Universidad Miguel Hernández (UMH), 03550 Alicante, Spain
2. Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria y Biomédica de Alicante (ISABIAL), 03010 Alicante, Spain
3. CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28034 Madrid, Spain
Interests: epidemiology; nutrition; reviews; chronic diseases; mortality and coffee
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Manuela García de la Hera

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Unidad de Epidemiología de la Nutrición (EPINUT), Departamento de Salud Pública, Historia de la Ciencia y Ginecología, Universidad Miguel Hernández (UMH), 03550 Alicante, Spain
2. Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria y Biomédica de Alicante (ISABIAL), 03010 Alicante, Spain
3. CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28034 Madrid, Spain
Interests: epidemiology; nutrition; reviews; chronic diseases; mortality; neurodevelopment
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Verónica Company

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor Assistant
1. Pathology and Surgery Department, University of Miguel Hernández, 03550 Alicante, Spain
2. Alicante Institute for Health and Biomedical Research (ISABIAL), Institute of Neuroscience (UMH-CSIC), University Miguel Hernández, 03202 Alicante, Spain
Interests: neurodevelopment; infancy; occupational therapy; new technologies and neuroscience

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The relationship between nutrition and neurodevelopmental disorders is of great importance in childhood and presents several possibilities for research. Eating and feeding disturbances in children are understudied health conditions that can lead to physical and psychosocial comorbidities. Eating disorders are mainly characterized by atypical eating behaviors, associated emotional and cognitive alterations, and dysregulated body weight. Atypical eating behaviors are especially common in children with neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, possibly due to sensory processing alterations. Some evidence supports the theory that sensory processing disorders can impact food acceptance and consequently alter children’s diet and/or trigger feeding disorders. Currently, the DSM-5 Feeding and Eating Disorders section includes new feeding disorders, such as avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder, pica, and rumination disorder, as well as some forms of non-normative eating behaviors, such as loss of control eating. Emerging evidence suggests that these new feeding disorders can be more prevalent in children with neurodevelopmental disorders because of sensory processing concerns and routines, as well as rituals around food; however, there is a lack of research on feeding and eating disorders in children with neurodevelopmental disorders, and we hope that this Special Issue will serve to fill existing knowledge gaps.

We encourage all researchers involved in the world of neurodevelopmental disorders (occupational therapists, nutritionists, nurses, psychologists, physicians, and epidemiologists) to submit their research to this Special Issue and shed light on this unknown, interesting, and relevant topic. We welcome related original research articles, clinical studies, and review articles that focus on nutrition, diet, eating behaviors, and/or routines around food in relation to neurodevelopmental childhood disorders, as well as dietary evaluations in children with neurodevelopmental disorders. Thank you for considering this Special Issue as an outlet for your research on the above-mentioned topic.

Dr. Laura María Compañ Gabucio
Dr. Laura Torres-Collado
Prof. Dr. Manuela García de la Hera
Guest Editors

Dr. Verónica Company
Guest Editor Assistant

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Nutrients is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • diet
  • nutrition
  • dietary evaluation
  • eating patterns
  • eating behaviors
  • food routines
  • food acceptance
  • food selectivity
  • feeding problems
  • atypical eating behaviors
  • avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder
  • autism spectrum disorder
  • attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder
  • alexithymia
  • interoception
  • sensory processing
  • neurodevelopment
  • cognitive function

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Related Special Issue

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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11 pages, 266 KiB  
Article
Food Neophobia: A Common Challenge Among Brazilian Children with Down Syndrome
by Priscila Claudino De Almeida, Ivana Aragão Lira Vasconcelos, Eduardo Yoshio Nakano, Renata Puppin Zandonadi and Raquel Braz Assunção Botelho
Nutrients 2025, 17(7), 1199; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu17071199 - 29 Mar 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 287
Abstract
Objective: Food neophobia (FN) is defined as the reluctance to eat new foods. The present study aimed to evaluate FN in Brazilian children with Down syndrome (DS) based on their caregivers’ perceptions. Method: This was a descriptive, cross-sectional study. The convenient sample consisted [...] Read more.
Objective: Food neophobia (FN) is defined as the reluctance to eat new foods. The present study aimed to evaluate FN in Brazilian children with Down syndrome (DS) based on their caregivers’ perceptions. Method: This was a descriptive, cross-sectional study. The convenient sample consisted of responses from the caregivers of 231 children aged 4 to 11 years. Recruitment occurred through chain sampling, research, and dissemination via social media profiles, associations, and emails. Caregivers answered sociodemographic questions and the Brazilian Children’s Food Neophobia Questionnaire (BCFNeo), an instrument previously developed and validated for the Brazilian context. Data were exported from the Google Form® platform and analyzed using Excel® and SPSS®. Descriptive statistics, the independent Student’s t-test, the Mann–Whitney U test, and the Friedman test were used, following the methodology indicated by BCFNeo. Results: The results indicated a high FN prevalence rate of 41.1%. The general domain showed the highest prevalence (48.1%). There were no significant differences in FN across age groups (p > 0.05), and boys were more neophobic than girls (p = 0.006). The school environment emerged as a favorable setting to encourage the consumption of new fruits (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Children with DS exhibited similar levels of FN compared to Brazilian neurodiverse children. This study highlights the need for further research into eating behaviors in children with DS and emphasizes the school’s role as a space for the promotion of healthy eating habits. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dietary Patterns: Do Children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders Eat Differently? (2nd Edition))
19 pages, 2581 KiB  
Article
Nutritional Intake and Sensory Processing in School-Aged Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder
by Audrey Olson, Jenna R. Krall, Ancha Baranova and Margaret Slavin
Nutrients 2025, 17(4), 604; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu17040604 - 7 Feb 2025
Viewed by 1304
Abstract
Background: Individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) commonly experience sensory processing that differs from general-population norms, and the autistic lived experience of eating includes preferences for routine, and sensory processing difficulty related to scents, tastes, temperatures, and textures of food. Meanwhile, research [...] Read more.
Background: Individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) commonly experience sensory processing that differs from general-population norms, and the autistic lived experience of eating includes preferences for routine, and sensory processing difficulty related to scents, tastes, temperatures, and textures of food. Meanwhile, research indicates that nutrients involved in one-carbon metabolism (OCM) may be related to sensory processing. Methods: This study enrolled 33 school-aged children with autism to assess whether OCM nutrient intake is associated with sensory processing. Parents completed two parent-report assessments: the youth and adult food frequency questionnaire (YAFFQ), and a sensory processing tool, Sensory Profile 2 (SP2). Results: Participant data showed generally good nutritional profiles mirroring those of general-population U.S. children. A group-binarized linear regression model showed the following relationships (p < 0.05): vitamin B12 consumption had a negative association with the SP2 Oral and Sensor domain scores. Choline intake had a positive association with the SP2 Avoider domain score. Vitamin B1 showed a positive association with the SP2 Visual domain score. Conclusions: These results support the possible existence of a relationship between sensory symptoms and OCM nutrient consumption levels in school-aged children diagnosed with autism. Future research is needed to confirm and explore the potential for causality. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dietary Patterns: Do Children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders Eat Differently? (2nd Edition))
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Review

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29 pages, 2380 KiB  
Review
Unraveling the Connections: Eating Issues, Microbiome, and Gastrointestinal Symptoms in Autism Spectrum Disorder
by Natalia Tomaszek, Agata Dominika Urbaniak, Daniel Bałdyga, Kamila Chwesiuk, Stefan Modzelewski and Napoleon Waszkiewicz
Nutrients 2025, 17(3), 486; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu17030486 - 29 Jan 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2717
Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by challenges in social communication, restricted interests, and repetitive behaviors. It is also associated with a high prevalence of eating disorders, gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms, and alterations in gut microbiota composition. One of the most [...] Read more.
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by challenges in social communication, restricted interests, and repetitive behaviors. It is also associated with a high prevalence of eating disorders, gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms, and alterations in gut microbiota composition. One of the most pressing concerns is food selectivity. Various eating disorders, such as food neophobia, avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID), specific dietary patterns, and poor-quality diets, are commonly observed in this population, often leading to nutrient deficiencies. Additionally, gastrointestinal problems in children with ASD are linked to imbalances in gut microbiota and immune system dysregulation. The aim of this narrative review is to identify previous associations between the gut–brain axis and gastrointestinal problems in ASD. We discuss the impact of the “microbiome–gut–brain axis”, a bidirectional connection between gut microbiota and brain function, on the development and symptoms of ASD. In gastrointestinal problems associated with ASD, a ‘vicious cycle’ may play a significant role: ASD symptoms contribute to the prevalence of ARFID, which in turn leads to microbiota degradation, ultimately worsening ASD symptoms. Current data suggest a link between gastrointestinal problems in ASD and the microbiota, but the amount of evidence is limited. Further research is needed, targeting the correlation of a patient’s microbiota status, dietary habits, and disease course. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Dietary Patterns: Do Children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders Eat Differently? (2nd Edition))
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