Pediatrics organization warns against elimination diets

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The American Academy of Pediatrics is warning parents against using gluten-free and casein-free diets as part of their child's autism treatment.

The new guidance is the first one released on autism by the AAP in more than 10 years.

The report cites data from a 2016 clinical trial in which researchers found that elimination diets did not have an effect on a child's autism symptoms. The AAP advises parents to only use research-based interventions and treatments.

Insider reports that anywhere from between 23% and 70% of children with autism suffer from various gastrointestinal issues which may explain why elimination diets, like gluten-free and casein-free, became a popular alternative therapy. Casein-free refers to the milk protein and requires the elimination of all dairy products from your child's diet. A gluten-free diet means no wheat, barley, rye or oats-based products.

The new guidelines don't mean that elimination diets are without benefits, the guideline authors explained in AAP's journal Pediatrics. When there is an underlying physiological issue, an elimination diet might help with those particular symptoms.

However, for core autism symptoms and behaviors, the authors recommend proven treatment methods like behavioral analysis, which works on new skills like eye contact and using positive reinforcement to reduce aggressive behaviors. They also suggest the Early Start Denver Model, which focuses on improving language and cognitive skills in children with autism.

Thanks. This is long overdue. So many Asian parents believe that diet solves everything. This should be a good message for them.

Another issue is that elimination/prohibition diets open doors for power narcissism. That's when whatever rules/restrictions that are implemented "for the good of the child", like the "gluten free, casein free" diet, stop being for the good of the child, and start being for the sake of enjoying power over him. Namely, to enjoy watching the defeated look on this face and the tears in his eyes, when telling that him that he can't have cheese and crackers. Which, in the child's mind, means that he can't have cheese and crackers for as long as he lives. To protect him from the evil gluten and casein, of course.

That's "no harm, no foul" is he doesn't like them. But what if he does? Is enjoying power really worth making one's own child unhappy? We're talking about popular, semi-healthy kids' foods here, not whiskey! NT adults and even NT kids may not notice the enjoyment of power. But for aspies, the jig is up: we know. All thanks to our unique brain wiring.

... I had a physician friend who disparaged the idea of supplemental vitamins saying that anyone who ate a balance diet, did not need such supplementation. My response was "who eats a balanced diet".

... Parents who attempt an elimination or supplementation regime, usually do so with an eye towards making things better for their child. One might expect, given the difficulty of maintaining such a regime, that it would not be continued unless there were observable positive effects.

Unfortunately, often there are observable NEGATIVE effects, and the parents continue to enforce the diet. I see with my eyes how the body shape of a boy gets deformed when the parents forced him to follow SCD diet for over a decade by now. Some people may think the comments from Aspie1 are hyperbole, but, sadly, nope. Some parents do truly have "power narcissism."