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Sensory sensitivity and intelligence are correlated with nutrient deficiency in children with autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disability

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 78, pages 286–294 (2024)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background/objectives

Relationship between dietary intake and sensory sensitivity and intelligence in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is not well described. This study aims to investigate nutrition status in children with ASD and ID and its association with sensory sensitivity and intelligence.

Subjects/methods

84 students (34 ASD and 48 ID) in a special education school were recruited. Dietary intakes were evaluated with 3-day food dairy. Sensory sensitivity was measured using short sensory profile (SSP). Wechsler IQ test were performed.

Results

Two out of twenty-four investigated nutrients had an adequate intake rate of over 50%. Four out of ten investigated vitamins had an inadequate intake rate of over 90% and another two over 80%. 75.6% of participants had inadequate energy intake. After adjusting for age, ASD participants had a higher intake of all surveyed nutrients but only the intake of vitamin E and folate were statistically different (p < 0.05) along with a smaller number of inadequate nutrients (p < 0.001). Taste/smell sensitivity, movement sensitivity, underresponsive/seeks sensation, and total sensory sensitivity symptoms severity were slightly higher in ASD group than in ID group (all p < 0.05). After adjusting for IQ and sensory sensitivity score, difference of number of inadequate nutrients between ASD and ID group were not statistically significant (p = 0.193).

Conclusions

Individuals with ASD had better dietary intake but worse sensory sensitivity compared to those with ID. Sensory sensitivity and intelligence are correlated with nutritional status in individuals with neurodevelopmental disorder.

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Fig. 1: Sensory sensitivity and number of inadequate nutrients between ASD and ID.

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Data availability

Data analyzed in this study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to all the participants and their parents and teachers who participated in this study. This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81773459 and 81973070), the Tianjin Municipal Science and Technology Bureau (21JCQNJC01720).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health, School of Public Health, Tianjin Medical University, No. 22 Qixiangtai Road, Heping District, 300070, Tianjin, China

    Tingkai Cui, Yu Han, Zhi Li & Xin Zhang

  2. Tianjin Key Laboratory of Environment, Nutrition and Public Health, School of Public Health, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China

    Tingkai Cui, Yu Han, Yuanyuan Su, Zhi Li & Xin Zhang

  3. Tianjin Medical University Stomatological Hospital, No.12 Qixiangtai Road, 300070, Tianjin, China

    Jingchao Zhang

  4. Experimental Teaching Center of Preventive Medicine, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China

    Yuanyuan Su

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Contributions

XZ contributed to the conception of the study. TC and JZ performed the data analyses. TC wrote the paper. YH and YS helped perform the analysis with constructive discussions. TC, JZ, YH, YS, ZL, and XZ collected the data. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the paper.

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Correspondence to Xin Zhang.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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This study was carried out according to the guidelines of the Declaration of Helsinki, and all procedures involving human subjects were approved by the Ethics Review Committee of Tianjin Medical University (TMUhMEC2017020).

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Cui, T., Zhang, J., Han, Y. et al. Sensory sensitivity and intelligence are correlated with nutrient deficiency in children with autism spectrum disorder and intellectual disability. Eur J Clin Nutr 78, 286–294 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-023-01365-w

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