Abstract

Objective: The etiology of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) remains unclear. The study aims to evaluate the relationship between ASD and preventable nutritional risk factors as iron, vitamin D, and B12 deficiency.

Method: Medical records of ASD-diagnosed children, ages 1.5-4 years old, were retrospectively reviewed. Hemoglobin (Hb), hematocrit (Htc), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), red cell distribution width (RDW), ferritin, 25-hydroxyvitamin D, and vitamin B12 levels at diagnosis were compared with age and sex-matched typically developing control group.

Results: Eighty-five ASD-diagnosed and 63 typically developing children were included. Mean Hb, Htc, B12, and median MCV, RDW, ferritin and 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels were similar between the groups (p>0.05). Iron deficiency (ID) was in 39.5% and 35.5% of the children in the study and control groups, respectively (p>0.05). Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) prevalence in the study and control groups were 6.1% and 4.8% (p>0.05). Vitamin D insufficiency and deficiency were 15.1% and 16.4% in the study group, and 23.4% and 10.6% in the control group, respectively (p>0.05). B12 deficiency was detected in 20.2% and in 8.9% of the children in the study and control groups respectively, without significance (p>0.05). No relationship was observed between the severity of ASD symptoms and Hb, ferritin, B12, and 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels (p>0.05).

Conclusion: Young children with ASD did not at greater risk for ID, IDA, vitamin D and vitamin B12 deficiency than typically developing controls. But, our results support the necessity of evaluating children with ASD in terms of iron parameters, vitamin D and B12 levels.