Systematic Reviews
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Pediatr. Sep 9, 2025; 14(3): 101974
Published online Sep 9, 2025. doi: 10.5409/wjcp.v14.i3.101974
Food selectivity and autism: A systematic review
Rosaria Ferrara, Leonardo Iovino, Lidia Ricci, Angiola Avallone, Roberto Latina, Pasquale Ricci
Rosaria Ferrara, Lidia Ricci, Department of Anatomy, Histological, Forensic and Orthopaedics Science, “Sapienza” University of Rome, Rome 00185, Lazio, Italy
Leonardo Iovino, Department of Economic and Legal Studies, Parthenope university of Naples, Naples 80133, Campania, Italy
Angiola Avallone, Organizzazione Italiana Studio E Monitoraggio Autismo, Rome 00162, Lazio, Italy
Roberto Latina, Department of Health Promotion Science, Mother and Child Care, Internal medicine and Medical specialities,University of Palermo, Palermo 90133, Sicilia, Italy
Pasquale Ricci, Department of Life Science, Health, Health Profession, "Link Campus" University of Rome, Rome 00165, Lazio, Italy
Author contributions: Ferrara R, Iovino L, Ricci L, Avallone A, Latina R, and Ricci P contributed to the manuscript; Ferrara R conceptualized the study and coordinated the research activities; Avallone A contributed to data analysis, literature review; Iovino L contributed to data collection, methodology section; Roberto L contributed to manuscript editing, proofreading reviewed and supervised the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
PRISMA 2009 Checklist statement: The authors have read the PRISMA 2009 Checklist, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the PRISMA 2009 Checklist.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Rosaria Ferrara, PhD, Adjunct Professor, Department of Anatomy, Histological, Forensic and Orthopaedics Science, “Sapienza” University of Rome, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, Rome 00185, Lazio, Italy. rosaria.ferrara@uniroma1.it
Received: October 3, 2024
Revised: February 15, 2025
Accepted: April 14, 2025
Published online: September 9, 2025
Processing time: 255 Days and 22.4 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: This scoping review explored food selectivity in autism spectrum disorder. Two main themes emerged: Eating behaviour (e.g., food refusal) during meals and sensory processing, in particular the smell, texture, taste, colour and temperature of food. Children with autism spectrum disorder have greater food selectivity than children with typical development and this makes them nutritionally vulnerable.