Nutrients for Autism (2011)

This study investigated nutrients for autism. It involved  giving 141 children and adults with autism, a multi-nutrient formula containing a broad range of vitamins and minerals or a placebo. Their symptoms were assessed before and after the study which ran for three months. Fifty-three of the children in the study also had blood measures taken of nutritional and metabolic status(biomarkers) before and after.

In terms of symptoms, the supplemented group had significantly greater improvements than the placebo group on the following scores: Parental Global Impressions (PGI-R), Hyperactivity, Tantrumming, Overall and Receptive Language. The change in the PGI-R was strongly associated with a number of the biomarkers suggesting that there is a relationship between changes in biomarkers and changes in symptoms.

Levels of many vitamins, minerals, and biomarkers improved including markers of oxidative stress thought to be elevated in autism, as well as markers of key biological processes such as methylation and sulphation.

Click here for the abstract

Adams JB, Audhya T, McDonough-Means S, Rubin RA, Quig D, Geis E, Gehn E, Loresto M, Mitchell J, Atwood S, Barnhouse S, Lee W. (2011) Effect of a vitamin/mineral supplement on children and adults with autism. BMC Pediatr. 11:111.

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Nutrition in Children (2006)

This study explored nutrition in children. This study sought to examine the relationship between food poverty (defined as those individuals who go to school or bed hungry because there is not enough food at home) and food consumption, health and life satisfaction among 8424 school children from the Republic of Ireland, aged between 10 and 17 years. Each participant completed a questionnaire, which assessed social class, dietary composition, eating habits and the presence of emotional and physical symptoms including feeling low, nervous, bad tempered, afraid, tired, exhausted and suffering from headache, stomachache, backache, dizziness and neck of shoulder pain. The questionnaire also assessed the children’s feelings about life and life satisfaction.

Children experiencing food poverty reported lower intakes of fruit, vegetables and brown bread and higher intakes of crisps, fried potatoes and hamburgers. They also had increased risk of experiencing somatic and mental symptoms and experienced negative health perceptions and lower life satisfaction.

Molcho, M et al., ‘Food poverty and health among schoolchildren in Ireland: findings from the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study’, Public Health Nutrition, 10(4), 364-370, 2006 June

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