Feasibility of a virtual nutrition intervention for adolescents with autism spectrum disorder.
Eight Zoom cooking classes keep autistic teens showing up and filling out surveys.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Sosnowski et al. (2022) asked if autistic teens could finish a cooking class on Zoom.
They ran eight weekly lessons called BALANCE.
Each teen logged in from home and cooked along with the teacher.
The team tracked who showed up, how long they stayed, and if they filled out the surveys.
What they found
Most teens came to the sessions and stayed until the end.
The staff could teach and collect data without problems.
The study shows the whole program can run online.
How this fits with other research
Ding et al. (2017) did something close. They held group exercise classes on tablets for teens with IDD.
Both studies prove you can keep teens with developmental disabilities engaged through a screen.
Zhou et al. (2024) also taught autistic students on Zoom, but they taught Spanish words in elementary school.
Together the three papers stretch from language to fitness to cooking, showing telehealth works across ages and goals.
Hutchins et al. (2020) ran an eight-session sleep program for younger kids face-to-face.
Their good results hint that eight online nutrition sessions might also help, but we need a bigger trial to know for sure.
Why it matters
If you serve autistic adolescents, you now have a ready-made eight-week curriculum you can send home.
No travel, no kitchen space at school, just laptops and grocery lists.
Try adding a brief cooking demo to your next parent meeting and watch attendance climb.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Adolescents with autism spectrum disorder are at an increased risk of unhealthy eating behaviors and obesity compared to their typically developing peers. Many nutrition interventions for this population focus on improving autism spectrum disorder symptoms or managing weight rather than addressing participants' healthy eating self-efficacy. The purpose of this study was to examine a virtual implementation of a new intervention for adolescents with autism spectrum disorder, Bringing Adolescent Learners with Autism Nutrition and Culinary Education. We used fidelity checklists, engagement records, and field notes to measure implementation. We also examined the feasibility of assessing outcome measures, including a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ), psychosocial survey, height, and weight. We recruited adolescents with autism spectrum disorder aged 12-21 years. Six groups of 2-7 adolescents (27 total) participated in the intervention and pre-/post-intervention measurements. Bringing Adolescent Learners with Autism Nutrition and Culinary Education consisted of eight weekly lessons: exploring taste, flavor, and texture; mealtimes and rules; food groups and nutrients; moderation; beverages; cooking; well-being; sustaining healthy eating habits. The virtual implementation was feasible based on lesson attendance, participation, homework completion, fidelity, and prevalence of technical difficulties. Evaluation was also feasible based on response rate, completion, and data quality for the food frequency questionnaire, psychosocial survey, and height and weight measurements. Bringing Adolescent Learners with Autism Nutrition and Culinary Education may be used in virtual settings to reach diverse populations of adolescents with autism spectrum disorder. Future research is needed to evaluate the impact of Bringing Adolescent Learners with Autism Nutrition and Culinary Education on dietary behavior and obesity outcomes.
Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 2022 · doi:10.1177/13623613211051150