FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH BODY WEIGHT STATUS AMONG CHILDREN WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER AGED 2-11 IN KUCHING DIVISION, SARAWAK
High prevalence of overweight and obese among children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) gains attention due to its substantial adverse health impacts. This study aimed to determine the associations between sociodemographic characteristics, parental feeding practices, child eating behaviour, and...
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| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en |
| Published: |
Malaysian Public Health Physicians' Association
2023
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/42842/3/FACTORS%20ASSOCIATED%20-%20Copy.pdf http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/42842/ https://mjphm.org/index.php/mjphm |
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| Summary: | High prevalence of overweight and obese among children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) gains attention due to
its substantial adverse health impacts. This study aimed to determine the associations between sociodemographic
characteristics, parental feeding practices, child eating behaviour, and dietary intake with body weight status of ASD
children in Kuching Division, Sarawak. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 124 ASD children (83.9% boys and
16.1% girls) aged 2-11 years, together with their caregivers. The weight and height of ASD children were taken, and
body mass index-for-age z-score (BAZ) was computed using AnthroPlus software. Child feeding practices, eating
behaviour, and dietary intake were assessed through interviews, with the aid of a questionnaire. Multiple binary
logistic regression was used in data analysis. The prevalence of underweight, risk-of-overweight, overweight, and
obese ASD children was 3.2% (3.8% boys; 0% girls), 4.8% (2.9% boys; 15.0% girls), 16.9% (17.3% boys; 15.0% girls), and
20.2% (23.1% boys; 5.0 % girls), respectively. The multiple binary logistic regression revealed that the caregivers with
high perceived child weight (AOR 31.313, 95% CI=6.127-47.218), high concern towards child weight (AOR 1.774, 95%
CI=1.112-2.829), and high sodium intakes (AOR 3.747, 95% CI= 1.515-9.269) were significantly associated with increased risk of overweight or obesity, explaining 37.2% of the variation in body weight status. It is important to
prioritise the perspective of caregivers’ feeding practices especially the caregivers with high perceived child weight
and concerned child’s weight as well as sodium level of the ASD children while planning for obesity intervention
programmes. |
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