COVID-19 and Food-Related Outcomes in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Disparities by Income and Food Security Status

ABSTRACT Background Limited research suggests increased adverse behavioral outcomes, such as distractibility and hyperactivity, among children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as a result of coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19); however, little is known about how the pandemic has impacted food-related behaviors among children with ASD. Objective This study characterizes the impact of the pandemic on access to preferred foods and eating behaviors among children with ASD. Methods Caregiver proxies (n = 200) participated in a cross-sectional, online survey investigating the impact of COVID-19 on reported food and eating behaviors of children, ages 2–17 y. Logistic regression models were used to assess the magnitude of association of a change in the child's eating behaviors and in food availability, overall and by household income and food security status. Results A majority of respondents reported a moderate-to-large impact on their child's eating behaviors (57%) since the onset of COVID-19, and 65% reported unavailability of their child's preferred foods. Increased risk of a moderate-to-large impact on children's eating behaviors was associated with shelter regulations compared with no regulations (OR: 2.30; 95% CI: 1.12, 4.72), food insecurity compared with security status (OR: 2.60; 95% CI: 1.45, 4.67), and household income of <$50,000 compared with ≥$100,000 (OR: 2.33; 95% CI: 1.02, 5.29). The pandemic also amplified the risk of food unavailability by household food security status (food insecure vs. secure; OR: 4.13; 95% CI: 2.12, 7.69) and across income levels (<$50,000 vs. ≥$100,000; OR: 3.48; 95% CI: 1.42, 8.55; and $50,000 to <$100,000 vs. ≥$100,000; OR: 4.00; 95% CI: 1.71, 9.34). Reported frequencies of consumption of meat, seafood, vegetables, and 100% fruit juice significantly decreased among the children post-onset of COVID-19, while frequency of consumption of sweets increased. Conclusions A large proportion of caregivers reported substantial COVID-19 impacts on food availability and eating behaviors of children with ASD, especially among low-resource dyads. This study highlights the added burden of existing disparities due to the pandemic on children living with ASD.

Food preference of captive mona monkey (Cercopithecus mona) in University of Lagos, Nigeria

In the wild, nonhuman primates' preferences for some food may not be quite clear due to the seasonality and utilization of fallback foods during periods of scarcity. Understanding the most preferred foods could aid schedules of serving them to captive primates. Against this background, the study was carried out to determine the food preference of captive mona monkeys offered foods consumed by their counterparts in the degraded and fragmented urban forest, biodiversity rich rainforest, and in a zoo. The feeding trials were conducted in the service area of the University of Lagos. Four adult monkeys (two males and two females) were offered weighed amounts of 13 different foods served in batches of five, using the cafeteria method. Each food type was offered separately in a food trough at 10:00 hrs each day. Left over was withdrawn and measured after 24 hours. Position of the food trough was changed every day. Water was provided ad libitum in a water trough. The difference between offered and left-over weights was regarded as intake. Food preference was determined from the coefficient of preference (COP), and a unitary value was considered preferred. In decreasing order of preference, the preferred foods that had COP ≥ 1 were Musa sapientum, Zea mays, and Solanum melongena. The mona monkey and other sympatric species held in captivity could be provided with these foods in addition to other foods that could meet their nutritional needs. Nutritional assays of these foods could provide clues to their being preferred above others. Dans la nature, les préférences des primates non humains pour certains aliments peuvent ne pas être tout à fait claires en raison de la saisonnalité et de l'utilisation des aliments de remplacement pendant les périodes de pénurie. Comprendre les aliments les plus préférés pourrait faciliter les horaires de les servir aux primates captifs. Dans ce contexte, l'étude a été menée pour estimer la préférence alimentaire des singes mona en captivité qui offraient des aliments consommés par leurs homologues dans la forêt urbaine dégradée et fragmentée, la forêt tropicale riche en biodiversité et dans un zoo. Les essais d'alimentation ont été menés dans l’aire de service de l'Université de Lagos. Quatre singes adultes (deux mâles et deux femelles) se sont vus offrir des quantités pesées de 13 aliments différents servis par lots de cinq, en utilisant la méthode de la cafétéria. Chaque type de nourriture était offert 184 séparément dans une auge à 10 h chaque jour. Le surplus a été prélevé et mesuré après 24 heures. La position de l'auge a été changée chaque jour. L'eau était fournie à volonté dans un bac à eau. La différence entre le poids offert et le poids restant a été considérée comme un apport. La préférence alimentaire a été déterminée à partir du coefficient de préférence (COP), et une valeur unitaire a été considérée comme préférée. Par ordre décroissant de préférence, les aliments préférés qui avaient un COP ≥ 1 étaient Musa sapientum, Zeamays et Solanummelongena. Le singe mona et d'autres espèces sympatriques gardées en captivité pourraient recevoir ces aliments en plus d'autres aliments qui pourraient répondre à leurs besoins nutritionnels. Les dosages nutritionnels de ces aliments pourraient fournir des indices sur leur préférence aux autres.

IMPLEMENTASI WEIGHT PRODUCT (WP) UNTUK PEMILIHAN BUBUR BAYI INSTAN USIA 6BULAN+

<p><em>Instant baby porridge is one of the preferred foods for babies that are used at the age of six months and above and baby porridge or also known as solid food is a very decisive step to meet a baby's nutritional needs, the problem of fulfilling nutrition for all age groups is still not resolved at this time . The cause of malnutrition can be seen from one of the factors that are difficult to eat, the problem of difficulty eating can be seen in toddlers and this problem if not resolved quickly can affect the growth and development of toddlers due to nutritional deficiencies. Parents' desire to meet their children's nutritional needs is often in inappropriate ways, such as by promising a reward in the form of their favorite meal if the child shows good behavior, so that the child does not consume healthy food and ultimately results in bad food behavior for the child. To solve the above problems, a decision support system method is applied, namely the weighted product (WP) with the aim that parents can easily and quickly choose baby porridge food, so that there are no mistakes in meeting the nutritional needs of their children. The results obtained in the calculation of the Weighted Product Method which consists of several calculation stages, starting from determining alternatives and criteria, baby porridge selection criteria, weight importance level, criteria weighting, vector calculation to ranking are products for selecting baby porridge, there are 2 best alternatives, namely A11 with a value of 0.09390 and A12 with a value of 0.09390.</em></p><p><em><strong>Keywords</strong></em><em>: </em><em>weight product, instant baby porridge</em><em><strong> </strong></em></p><p><em>Bubur bayi instan salah satu makanan pilihan bayi yang digunakanan pada usia enam bulan keatas dan b<a href="https://www.alodokter.com/mengenalkan-makanan-bayi-sesuai-tingkatan-usia" target="_blank">ubur bayi</a></em><em> atau juga disebut dengan makanan padat merupakan langkah yang sangat menentukan untuk memenuhi suatu kebutuhan gizi bayi, permasalahan pemenuhan gizi dari seluruh kelompok umur masih belum bisa diselesaikan pada saat ini. Menyebabkan gizi yang kurang dapat dilihat dari salah satu faktor sulit makan, masalah sulit makan dapat dilihat pada balita dan masalah tersebut jika tidak diselesaikan dengan cepat dapat mempengaruhi pertumbuhan dan perkembangan balita dikarenakan kekurangan nutrisi. Keinginan para orang tua untuk memenuhi kebutuhan nutrisi anaknnya sering kali dalam pemberian makanan dengan cara yang kurang tepat seperti dengan menjanjikan hadiah berupa makan kesukaannya jika anak menunjukkan perilaku yang baik, sehingga anak tidak mengkonsumsi makanan sehat dan akhirnya mengakibatkan perilaku makanan yang tidak baik bagi anak. Untuk menyelesaikan permasalahan diatas, maka diterapkan metode sistem penunjang keputusan yaitu weighted product (WP) dengan tujuan agar para orang tua dengan mudah dan cepat dalam memilih makanan bubur bayi, sehingga tidak tejadi kesalahan dalam memenuhi kebutuhan gizi anaknya. Adapun hasil yang diperoleh dalam </em><em>perhitungan Metode Weighted Product yang terdiri dari beberapa tahap perhitungan, mulai dari penentuan alternatif dan kriteria, kriteria seleksi bubur bayi, kingkat kepentingan bobot, pembobotan kriteria, perhitungan vektor hingga perangkingan </em><em>adalah </em><em>produk untuk penyeleksian bubur bayi didapatkan 2 alternatif terbaik yaitu A11 dengan nilai 0,09390 dan A12 dengan nilai 0,09390.</em></p><p><em><strong>Kata kunci</strong></em><em>: </em><em>weight product, bubur bayi instan</em></p>

The Impact of a Local Ordinance on the Availability of Cultural Foods in Convenience Stores and Non-traditional Food Stores

Background: Limited access to culturally preferred foods serves as a barrier to healthy diet consumption among vulnerable populations, including low-income neighborhoods and communities of color. Large supermarkets are often unavailable, leaving greater access to convenience and non-traditional stores in these areas. In 2015, the Minneapolis Staple Foods Ordinance was enforced and required food stores to meet a minimum stocking for a variety of healthy foods/beverages. The purpose of this study is to assess the ordinance impact on the availability of culturally preferred foods in corner and non-traditional food stores located in immigrant populations of color and African American neighborhoods. Methods: The present analysis was conducted using data from the STORE (Staple foods Ordinance Evaluation) study. Culturally preferred foods were identified from a list of food items in the parent study and used to assess changes in availability in stores between neighboring cities, Minneapolis (ordinance) and Saint Paul (control), Minnesota, U.S.A.. A subset of 60 stores from Minneapolis (n = 31) and Saint Paul (n = 29) were used for the final analysis. The analysis included stores located in one of the four identified communities of color, where 20% of the census tract population classified as either Black/African American, Latinx, Asian, or East African. Changes in cultural food availability were analyzed at pre-ordinance and 12 months post-enforcement time points using SAS, including descriptive statistics and generalized linear mixed models. Results: In Minneapolis, 80.7% of stores had at least one culturally relevant food available pre-ordinance, compared to 90.3% post-ordinance, a difference that was not statistically different. Stores did not have a great variety of culturally relevant foods pre- or post-ordinance, and overall findings show no significant changes over time and/ or between Minneapolis and St. Paul. There was a 23% increase in availability of cultural food items from pre to post ordinance for corporate-owned stores, though this change was not statistically significant, and no change for independently owned stores. Conclusions: The presence of cultural foods did not significantly increase with local ordinance implementation. Further interventions may be needed to address cultural food availability and variety in small, independent stores near lower-income areas and communities of color. Trial registration: NCT02774330

Oral Processing Behavior of Diana Monkeys (Cercopithecus diana) in Taï National Park, Côte d’Ivoire

Primates are hypothesized to “fall back” on challenging-to-process foods when preferred foods are less available. Such dietary shifts may be accompanied by changes in oral processing behavior argued to be selectively important. Here, we examine the oral processing behavior of Diana monkeys (<i>Cercopithecus diana</i>) in the Taï Forest across their dietary breadth, testing relationships among food intake, fruit availability, preference, and oral processing behaviors including those involved in food ingestion and breakdown. We conducted 1,066 focal follows from April 2016 to September 2017 documenting frequencies of incisor, canine, and cheek tooth mastications (i.e., chews) per ingestive action (<i>n</i> = 11,906 feeding events). We used phenological survey and scan sample data collected between 2004 and 2009 to examine dietary preference and food availability. Our analyses show that Diana monkeys processed foods in significantly different ways (<i>H</i>₂ = 360.8, <i>p</i> &#x3c; 0.001), with invertebrates requiring the least oral processing, fruit requiring intermediate amounts, and leaves requiring the most oral processing. There was no relationship between fruit availability and consumption of preferred or nonpreferred fruits (<i>p</i> &#x3e; 0.05); however, preferred fruits were processed with significantly fewer mastications (i.e., less chewing) than nonpreferred fruits (<i>U</i> = 6,557, <i>p</i> &#x3c; 0.001). We thus demonstrate that, when preferred foods are scarce, Diana monkeys do not fall back on difficult-to-process foods. Changes in processing profiles occurred throughout the year and not solely when preferred foods were in short supply. Though preferred fruits required less processing than nonpreferred fruits, we found no relationship between fruit preference and fruit availability. Diana monkeys’ lack of readily identifiable fallback foods may be attributable to the relatively high tree diversity and productivity of the Taï Forest. We conclude that Diana monkeys engage in resource switching, consuming a relatively easy-to-process diet year-round.

Anthropoid augmentations

In this chapter, Dorothy braves lions (and tigers and bears); a dinosaur eats someone in Jurassic Park; and a proofreader gets a $7 raise. But mainly we consider how a new form of memory helped anthropoids avoid being eaten. When anthropoids faced a high level of volatility in their preferred foods, such as fruit, they had to make more foraging journeys to get enough to eat. Because they faced a severe threat of predation every time they did, these ancestors benefited from any reduction in the frequency of such excursions. So, they had to establish memories that limited foraging errors, and they had to do so quickly. New cortical areas provided this advantage, so anthropoids survived and thrived in a rapidly changing world teeming with predators.

Food Preference Predicts Speed of Approach on a Runway Task by Dogs

The effective and quick assessment of food preference is important when attempting to identify foods that might function as effective reinforcers in dogs. In the current experiment a food preference assessment was conducted where more highly preferred foods were expected to be associated with faster approaches in a subsequent runway task. Eight dogs were tested in a paired preference assessment offering combinations of two of six types of raw food, including the dog’s staple diet, to identify a rank order of preference for the foods. A different raw food was offered as the staple in two preference tests. The results showed that the staple foods were not preferred as highly as the other foods and that each dog displayed unique and stable preferences for the different foods. In the runway task the dogs were required to walk five metres to obtain a small amount of their most preferred, least preferred or staple foods and latency of approach to the foods was recorded. The approach latencies were faster for their most preferred food compared to their least preferred and the staple foods. The use of a runway to assess reinforcer effectiveness combined an effortful behaviour to obtain food while also requiring the dogs to make a choice, thus precluding the need for more complicated and time-consuming methods of preference assessment. The application of this method for fast and effective identification of preferred reinforcers is currently being investigating further to inform pet owners of simple methods to increase their training successes. Owners of raw food fed dogs are advised to conduct a preference assessment to identify their dogs most preferred food for use as a reinforcer during training.

White-tailed deer browse preference for an invasive shrub, Amur honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii), depends on woody species composition

Selective browsing by abundant, generalist herbivores on preferred species could allow less-preferred invasive species to flourish. We tested such an effect by examining rates at which white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus Zimmermann) consume Amur honeysuckle [Lonicera maackii (Rupr.) Herder], an invasive shrub, relative to native woody species across eight forested sites in southwestern Ohio. We tested three hypotheses: (1) deer prefer to browse on L. maackii versus other woody plants; (2) L. maackii is not a preferred source of browse, but is consumed where preferred foods are scarce; and (3) L. maackii provides an important food resource for deer in early spring when other foods are scarce. We used counts of browsed and unbrowsed twigs of each species to calculate, for each site, both the proportion of each species’ twigs browsed and the degree to which deer selectively favor each species (“electivity”) during early to mid-growing season. Across the eight sites, electivity of L. maackii correlated with the proportion of its twigs browsed, and both measures were negatively associated with the density of L. maackii twigs. Lonicera maackii electivity was negative at most sites, indicating it is generally not preferred, undermining hypothesis 1. The hypothesis that deer consume L. maackii when more-preferred foods are depleted was not supported, as there was no negative relationship between L. maackii browse and the density of twigs of more-preferred species. We found a negative relationship between the proportion of L. maackii twigs browsed and the density of L. maackii among sites, which supports the third hypothesis. This finding, combined with seasonal patterns of deer browse on L. maackii, indicates that this invasive shrub is an important source of browse for deer during early spring, regardless of its abundance.

TINGKAH LAKU MAKAN LUTUNG JAWA Trachypithecus auratus DI KAWASAN PANCURAN 7 BATURADEN GUNUNG SLAMET JAWA TENGAH

Javan Langur (Trachypithecus auratus) has an important ecological role in conserving the forest as their habitat by spreading seeds of fruits of their food. They are also responsible for the pattern of the plant diversity and forest regeneration as their habitat. Unfortunately, Javan Langur has been listed on Appendix II of CITES and categorized as vulnerable by the IUCN. Pancuran 7 Baturaden on the Mount Slamet slope is one of the few Javan Langur habitats in Java. Information on the Javan Langur in this area was inadequate. Therefore this study was aimed to get information on the type of food and the feeding behavior of Javan Langur, particularly in Pancuran 7 Baturaden. This study used a survey method, and the Animal Scan sampling technique was applied. The variables observed were sex ratio, population size, eating position, eating process, feeding locations, feeding duration, including the food type of the Javan Langur. Observed data for each variable were analyzed descriptively as percentages, and the results showed the Javan Langur were eating by sitting and standing, were marking trees to feed, were using hands and mouth to eat, were eating leaves and fruit, were eating on the trees and bushes. There were nine plant species as their food variety, while Matoa fruit and leave (Pometia pinnata) were their preferred foods.