The development of new indicators and preventive methods for early detection of the tendency of autism: the association between food and allergy

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25460830
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Hygiene and public health
• Research Institution: Kansai University of Welfare Sciences
• Principal Investigator: SAGARA Takiko 関西福祉科学大学, 健康福祉学部, 教授 (30249164)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: アレルギー / 自閉症 / 体重 / アトピー性皮膚炎 / 気管支喘息 / 食

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We performed a cross-sectional survey to examine the prevalence of symptoms of eczema, asthma, rhinoconjunctivitis and autism spectrum disorder and to elucidate the associations between them. The participants were 337 children aged 3-6 years attending kindergarten or nursery school in Shika town, Japan. Autism spectrum feature was scored on the Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ). The prevalence of symptoms was 11.3% for eczema, 14.8% for asthma, and 5.3% for rhinoconjunctivitis. A total of 15 children (4.5%) had the SCQ score of 11 points or over. The logistic regression indicated that eczema symptom was significantly associated with the SCQ score of 11 points or over. The association persisted after adjusted for age, gender, and BMI. Moreover, asthma symptom was significantly associated with boy and overweight. The result suggested that high SCQ score, which implies autism spectrum traits, might be an important risk factor for eczema.

Free Research Field

母性衛生学