SELETIVIDADE ALIMENTAR EM CRIANÇAS COM TRANSTORNO DO ESPECTRO AUTISTA (TEA): UMA REVISÃO DE LITERATURA

Introduction: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neuropsychiatric condition that impacts the development of social interaction, communication and child behavior. Refusal of certain foods is related to consistency, smell, appearance, temperature and taste. Objectives: To understand eating behavior related to food selectivity in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder through scientific literature. Methodology: The search for scientific productions was carried out via the CAPES (Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel) Journals portal, through the CAfe (Federated Academic Community) option, Medical Literature and Retrieval Online (Medline/Pubmed), Scientific Electronic Library Online (Scielo), Lilacs and Scopus (Elsevier). Fourteen articles were selected after having been submitted to these exclusion criteria: texts in languages ​​other than Portuguese, English and Spanish, duplicate texts and works with an inadequate guiding question. Discussions: The discussion of the work was based on three categories: Factors related to children with ASD; Impact on family relationships; and Strategies for dealing with eating behavior. It was reported that sensory changes were correlated with the ingestion of less food, specifically sensitivity to oral texture. Parents of children with ASD experience higher levels of stress than parents of children with typical development, since mealtimes often involve crying, throwing objects, pushing food away, and other manifestations of food refusal. Food should be worked on as a mediator of connections that pass through the sensory field: smelling, touching, and licking. Conclusion: The relationship between sensory changes and food selectivity is evident, making it essential to understand the functioning of sensory systems and their interference in the feeding process. It is essential to highlight the need for and availability of specialized services and multidisciplinary care that must be provided to ensure early diagnosis, treatment, and promotion of the development of children with ASD.