Lay Summary:
This article concludes that a gluten-free diet may help improve the behavior of children with autism.
This study focused on 22 children with autism (mean age around 6 years old) who were placed on a gluten-free diet for five months. The behavior of the children was scored by their parents and teachers before, during, and after the five months. There was a significant improvement over the five months in behavior scores from parents, but not in the behavior scores from teachers. After the five months on the diet, one group of the children was given gluten, and the parents of these children reported that their behavior worsened. Moreover, a group of the children on the diet were given an intelligence test before and after being on the diet. These children improved on the test in three of the six areas tested, but children who had been eating gluten did not.
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