Avaliação do perfil e do consumo alimentar de autistas em municípios de pequeno porte paraibano.

Abstract

Autism is a disorder of neurodevelopmental, related to difficulties in social interaction and communication, as well as the delay or absence of language development, early diagnosis allows improvement resulting from an initiate of multidisciplinary treatment involving not only health professionals, as also with educational and families of autistic individuals. These particular characteristics for changes in their intestinal microbiota, and selectivity to some food groups, which may be related to the onset of some symptoms such as constipation, diarrhea, abdominal pain, among others. In this context, this study aimed to evaluate the characteristics of food intake and gastrointestinal autistic symptomatology, the municipalities of Picuí and Cuité - PB. The methodology was based on questionnaires to mothers or caregivers responsible for these children, for evaluation of autistic characteristics of identifying the profile of these, and a frequency questionnaire of food intake - QFA, covering 7 different food groups, highlighting among them that They had gluten and / or casein in its composition. The total sample consisted of 15 children, aged 5-11 years. The frequency of children diagnosed with autism in Cuité city was 100% male and 30% female Picuí and 70% male. With respect to the disorder diagnosis time, this ranged from 1 to 5 years. Most children performed monitoring only neurologist or psychiatrist, when there was the presence of other professionals such as psychologists or speech therapists, this was not done in a multidisciplinary way. The main gastrointestinal symptoms in autistic identified in Picui were constipation (30%), nausea (25%) and abdominal pain (15%) and others (vomiting, diarrhea and dysphagia) represented by 10% of the sample. Finally, 10% no symptoms. In Cuité, 60% of children do not have gastrointestinal symptomatology reports, 20% had constipation and 20% vomiting. Regarding the frequency of food consumption in Cuité 100% of children did not eat curds, cream, flour and sustagem; 90% of curd and 80% of toast, corn flour, condensed milk, hamburger, soy and lasagne; 80% of the sample consumed twice daily milk, bread and 40% consumed once a day. Already in Picui not consumed cream and soy 100% of the sample, and milk consumption was 40% (three times daily) and bread 20% (twice per week) and 20% (once per week). Finally, the literature findings corroborate most of the results, however one needs to perform an association between the presence of each of the evaluated characteristics, all of which are major causal factors for the presence of gastrointestinal symptoms presented by autism.