Early neurodiversity diagnosis can help to inform eating behaviours later in life

Researchers from King’s College and UCL, UK, have studied the associations between autistic and ADHD traits in childhood to later eating behaviours in adolescence. The study made use of the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, using data from 7,572 respondents living in the Southwest of England. Neurodiverse traits were recorded by parents when their child was aged 7, focusing on autism and ADHD. Parents were also asked to complete a survey to access their child’s anxiety at age 10. Young people aged 13 reported their own eating habits via the Dutch Eating Behaviour Questionnaire. The study found that autistic traits at 7 years old are associated with higher levels of emotional and restrained eating by age 13. Furthermore, both autism and inattentive ADHD traits were linked to externally driven eating, such as consuming food based on sight or smell rather than genuine hunger. A key finding is that anxiety symptoms in mid-childhood help to explain why autistic children may later adopt restrictive or emotional eating habits. The researchers highlight that these associations were found across both boys and girls and note the importance of early monitoring for such behaviour in neurodivergent children. Read more here.