Asthma and Allergies in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders: Results From the CHARGE Study.
Ask about food allergies during intake—kids with ASD are twice as likely to have them, and those allergies track with higher stereotypy scores.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Bottema-Beutel et al. (2015) compared allergy rates in kids with autism and typical kids. They used the large CHARGE study in California. Parents answered questions about asthma, skin allergies, and food allergies.
What they found
Food allergy was twice as common in children with autism. The same kids also showed more rocking, hand-flapping, and other repetitive movements. Asthma and other allergy rates were the same in both groups.
How this fits with other research
Petrovic et al. (2016) followed 1980s-diagnosed adults and found they carry a median of 11 chronic conditions. This extends Kristen’s point: the medical load in autism does not fade with age.
Barton et al. (2019) showed that sensory hypersensitivity, not diagnosis, best predicts repetitive behaviors. Kristen links food allergy to higher stereotypy. Together they hint that sensory or immune irritants may drive the same movements.
Melo et al. (2023) counted that 57 % of autistic kids show motor stereotypies. Kristen adds a possible reason—food allergy—that clinicians can actually treat.
Why it matters
Add food allergy questions to every intake. If a child shows sudden stereotypy spikes, consider a referral to allergy testing. Removing the allergen might ease both itching and behavior. The link gives you one more modifiable medical target before raising medication doses.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Immune aberrations are often noted in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but whether asthma and allergy are related to ASD is not well defined. This study examined asthma and allergies in association with ASD and phenotypic subsets. Participants were 560 children with confirmed ASD and 391 typically developing children from the CHildhood Autism Risks from Genetics and the Environment study. Maternally reported child asthma and allergy was compared between cases and controls, and in association with cognitive and behavioral test scores. Prevalence of asthma and overall allergies did not differ between cases and controls, but overall allergy in children with ASD was associated with higher stereotypy scores as measured by the Aberrant Behavior Checklist. In addition, reported food allergies were significantly associated with ASD (adjusted odds ratio = 2.23, 95% confidence interval 1.28, 3.89). Our results suggest food allergies and sensitivities may be more common in children with ASD, and that these issues may correlate with other behaviors.
Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research, 2015 · doi:10.1002/aur.1471