Development of an Intervention Programme for Selective Eating in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

OBJECTIVE/BACKGROUND: Most parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have difficulties with the selective eating behaviour of their children. This study aimed to develop a newly designed intervention programme on improving selective eating behaviour for parents of children with ASD and evaluate its effectiveness. METHODS: The participants were 23 parents of children (aged 3–6 years) with ASD. The education programme included a session that addressed approaches to improve selective eating and attitudes at meal times, with a discussion. The intervention aimed to identify the underlying factors and approaches to improve selective eating in children and the self-efficacy of parents. RESULTS: Significant differences were observed before and after the intervention in the degree of difficulty perceived by parents, their degree of self-efficacy, the number of recommendations conducted by them, their subjective view of the degree of dietary imbalance, and the number of food items consumed by their children. CONCLUSION: We developed an interventional programme for parents of children with ASD and this programme was found to be useful. It is important for occupational therapists to consider the factors and approaches for selective eating in children with ASD in order to provide early intervention for their parents.