Abstract
Objectives
The purpose of this review was to systematically search and critically analyse literature concerning the efficacy of gluten-free and/or casein-free diets in treating maladaptive behaviours in children with autism spectrum disorder.
Methods
Eleven randomized clinical trials retrieved from PubMed and Cochrane Library databases and hand search were reviewed and assessed for methodological quality using the Cochrane Collaboration’s risk of bias tool.
Results
Samples were mostly small, and few studies yielded evidence of statistically significant behavioural outcomes attributable to dietary interventions.
Conclusions
The results of this review imply that the efficacy of gluten-free and/or casein-free diets for individuals with autism spectrum disorder remains unsubstantiated. Larger and better designed studies focused on specific outcomes, and which are not dependent on unblinded researcher or parent report, are needed to establish whether gluten-free and/or casein-free diets are effective for children with autism spectrum disorder or any subgroup of such children.
Systematic Review Registration
PROSPERO CRD42020142407.
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HB: conceptualized and designed the study, completed data extraction and interpretation, and drafted the original manuscript. SA: contributed to the conceptualization and design of the study, data extraction, and interpretation; and editing of subsequent drafts of the manuscript. HAA: contributed to interpretation of data, drafting the original manuscript, and reviewing and editing subsequent drafts. CA: contributed to the interpretation of the data and critically reviewed the final manuscript.
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Batarseh, H., AbuMweis, S., Almakanin, H.A. et al. Gluten-Free and Casein-Free Diet for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: a Systematic Review. Adv Neurodev Disord 6, 280–289 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41252-022-00268-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41252-022-00268-4