Thin Bones Seen In Boys with Autism and Autism Spectrum D...

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MrMark
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30 Jan 2008, 7:58 am

Thin Bones Seen In Boys with Autism and Autism Spectrum Disorder (National Institutes of Health)

Results of an early study suggest that dairy-free diets and unconventional food preferences could put boys with autism and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) at higher than normal risk for thinner, less dense bones when compared to a group of boys the same age who do not have autism.

The study, by researchers from the National Institutes of Health and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, was published online in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.

The researchers believe that boys with autism and ASD are at risk for poor bone development for a number of reasons. These factors are lack of exercise, a reluctance to eat a varied diet, lack of vitamin D, digestive problems, and diets that exclude casein, a protein found in milk and milk products. Dairy products provide a significant source of calcium and vitamin D. Casein-free diets are a controversial treatment thought by some to lessen the symptoms of autism.

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AspieDave
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30 Jan 2008, 1:50 pm

Frankly, unless the child has either lactose intolerance or celiac, I put any "results" from that diet down to placebo by proxy.... by that I mean the parent sees the result they want to. If you don't provide your child with the required nutrients during a crucial time in their development, it shouldn't be a shock that it has an effect ON that development.


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woodsman25
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02 Feb 2008, 2:33 am

Ya, I am very lightweight for a 6'1" guy. I am very healthy and active but am very scrawny and I TOTALLY 100% blaim my inability to eat more then a couple foods during my entire childhood so I did not develope right. It was a fight my parents could not win but I wish they could have.


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02 Feb 2008, 8:47 am

Actually I have found the gluten and casein free diet to be of great help to me. It lifts the clouds and helps me focus better, it also helps with my mood regulation and insomnia. I don't find it difficult to still make sure I get a balanced diet because I know enough about nutrition and don't shun many other foods. I should imagine that this is a lot more difficult to do though if you have a whole family to consider and perhaps haven't got the time to sift through lots of information on nutrition.

would it not therefore be more useful to give those parents who are likely to want to try their children on this diet as much useful information as possible.

my thoughts are also that there may be other factors in this thin bones phenomenum: in my nutrition books, it is suggested that when the body comes into contact with various heavy metals it may take these up in favour of calcium causing a weakness in the bones. calcium is also a necessary in the blood to help us process vitamin D.



ouinon
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02 Feb 2008, 2:00 pm

mothers breastfeeding their children also come up against these sort of stats; their babies are smaller, grow less fast etc. ( but are in perfectly good health! ) The japanese too used to be much smaller, ( 15-20 cm shorter on average just 100 years ago) like many other asian races, before dairy formed a significant part of the diet.
so which group is abnormal?
the world health organisation decided recently to change the layout and information in their leaflets on child development, because the stats based on predominantly dairy-formula bottle-fed babies of the west were causing unnecessary anguish, anxiety, etc in other countries where babies are still more likely to be fed in the natural way, and where water supplies are such that it is very important that they carry on doing it that way.
in other words i don't think that these stats should put people off following a dairy free diet.
8)



Last edited by ouinon on 02 Feb 2008, 3:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.

KimJ
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02 Feb 2008, 3:15 pm

You need to look at the information as a whole. You can't just say that the GF/CF diet creates this inequality, it may exacerbate an already existing problem with bone development. Of the autistic boys, there was a minority on the GF/CF diet (12) and smaller amount on a "milk restricted" (3). 3 of those on the GF/CF were also taking supplements. Okay, that's the breakdown of who was doing what.
The autistic boys on a non-restricted diet had 10% less bone density than non-autistic boys. The boys on the GF/CF diet (including those taking calcium supplements) had 20% less bone density than the non-autistic boys. So, regardless of diet, all autistic boys suffered from something causing rapid growth and less bone density. I don't believe in taking pill supplements, your body can't absorb them that well. Autistic children should probably eat foods dense in nutrition and keep exercising as much as possible.

Dairy-heavy diets are still considered abnormal by global standards. Most of us are lactose intolerant (fresh milk) and seek calcium from other sources. People with Celiac disease don't have to stay on a dairy-free diet, just until their bowel heals. I don't see why so many people keep their kids on a full dairy-free diet. Cheeses, yoghurts are really good for you and have lactase to digest lactose. They have good bacteria too to help your bowels.



ouinon
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02 Feb 2008, 4:10 pm

KimJ wrote:
Cheeses, yoghurts are really good for you and have lactase to digest lactose. They have good bacteria too to help your bowels.

don't know where evidence is that dairy products are "really good for you". Cheese is generally very salty, acid forming, and high in saturated fats. It also tends to increase the amount of mucus/catarrh produced by body, in those sensitive/intolerant to it, thus encouraging bacterial infections. Yoghurt may help build up friendly bacteria populations in the guts, if child was not breastfed and so missed out on their mothers natural supply, but as it is very often unfortunately consumed with sugar is not nec a good idea. And in those intolerant to it it also produces immune reaction of increased catarrh etc.
There are plenty of other sources, which japanese and many other people around the world have managed very well with for thousands of years, particularly sardines incl bones, almonds, hazel nuts, and sesame seeds, and fresh vegetables, sprouts etc. Also apples if unpeeled. Need 20 mins daylight per day to provide the vit D to absorb the calcium.
Rather than producing more and more big-boned, dense-boned people, for whose bodies the burden of bone repair becomes too much in middle-old age resulting in widespread osteoporosis.

But i let my son eat cheese, and yoghurt, whenever he wants. it goes in waves. Sometimes none for weeks, sometimes every evening for days. ( he was breastfed)

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ouinon
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02 Feb 2008, 4:24 pm

but the study's results seem insufficiently clear, inadequately supported, to draw conclusions about the reasons. It could just as easily be the lack of exercise, as a calcium deficiency. It is possible that the children least physically active also have the most food allergies/intolerances, so are on a Cfree diet for that, which would explain a correlation.
:idea: Are there any studies on that? just wondering. On a correlation between number and/or severity of food intolerances/allergies and levels of spontaneous physical activity? :?:

8)



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02 Feb 2008, 4:36 pm

Once when I was young, I went to get an exam. I don't remember the point of the exam, but I received an x-ray of my chest and more, and when the photos came out, the doctors said my bones looked "crispy". I was always dumbfounded why they said this. Perhaps the topic of this thread may correlate with what I was told as a young lad.



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03 Feb 2008, 7:48 am

Averick wrote:
Once when I was young, I went to get an exam. I don't remember the point of the exam, but I received an x-ray of my chest and more, and when the photos came out, the doctors said my bones looked "crispy". I was always dumbfounded why they said this. Perhaps the topic of this thread may correlate with what I was told as a young lad.


hey pretzel bones! :lol:
doctors really should be more careful than say things like that. funny how well you remember that one small comment and how much needless worry something like that can cause.

actually i am very small boned and though i am average height i am still somehow a 'lanky' build.



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03 Feb 2008, 8:01 am

I never had a problem with thin bones but I have always drank lots of milk.. There was a time when I was working that I used to but a litre of milk a day at work and drink it between break time every weekday. I like milk but dont drink so much now it would make me fat now I am not working.



woodsman25
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04 Feb 2008, 5:15 am

Averick wrote:
Once when I was young, I went to get an exam. I don't remember the point of the exam, but I received an x-ray of my chest and more, and when the photos came out, the doctors said my bones looked "crispy". I was always dumbfounded why they said this. Perhaps the topic of this thread may correlate with what I was told as a young lad.


When I was a kid I was totally ashaimed, embarrased and insecure about my skinnyness, even as a small kid. If the DR's woulda said that and I heard them I seriously woulda got super upset and probably started to cry. I dont think them saying that is cool at all.


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DX'ed with HFA as a child. However this was in 1987 and I am certain had I been DX'ed a few years later I would have been DX'ed with AS instead.