Exploring Eating Challenges and Food Selectivity for Latinx Children with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder Using Qualitative Visual Methodology: Implications for Oral Health

This publication is included in the Autistic Autism Scholarship Project. one author of this publication is identified as autistic in the project.

About the autistic author marker

Floríndez, L., Floríndez, D., Price, M. E., Floríndez, F. M., Como, D., Polido, J., Baezconde-Garbanati, L., Pyatak, E., & Cermak, S. (2021). Exploring Eating Challenges and Food Selectivity for Latinx Children with and without Autism Spectrum Disorder Using Qualitative Visual Methodology: Implications for Oral Health. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(7), 3751. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18073751

Publication date: 3 Apr 2021 Added to AutiHub: 18 Oct 2026 Type: Article Article language: English

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Authors

Publication authors
9
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 9 (11.1%)

Abstract

Diet and food choices significantly impact teeth, including enamel quality and development of dental caries. However, studies focusing on diet and its relation to oral care in Latinx children with and without Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) have been minimally addressed in research. This qualitative study used an inclusive visual methodology to explore what Latinx caregivers learned about their child’s diet preferences and food routines in relation to their oral health. As a secondary aim, the study sought to explore whether notable differences in diet emerged between Latinx children with and without ASD. Participants were 32 Latinx caregivers from 18 families with children with and without Autism (n = 8 with a typically developing child and n = 10 with a child with ASD) who completed a food journal activity and photo elicitation interview. Interviews were thematically coded for themes pertaining to parents’ perceptions of their child’s diet and oral health. Findings of this study indicate that the process of taking photos helped Latinx caregivers to better situate the barriers and behaviors influencing everyday food routines in their children within the context of relating to their overall oral health. Via their active participation in the research process, parents were empowered to note strategies they could employ that would directly impact their child’s oral health outcomes, such as reducing juice intake and monitoring sugar consumption. Therefore, visual research methodologies are an important strategy for researchers to consider in order to empower participants to be part of the research process and part of the outcomes, and to offer better understanding of the lived experience of populations underrepresented in the literature, such as Latinx children with and without ASD and their families.

Bibliography cited by this reference

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Cited bibliography overview

These indicators describe the bibliography cited by this publication. An author name is counted each time it appears in one cited reference, so the same person can be counted more than once. Names not yet linked to an author already present in AutiHub are treated as unknown, not as non-autistic. Last computed: 29 Oct 2026 01:01.

Cited references
58
With a DOI
50
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
7
2 / 58 (3.4%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
2 / 58 (3.4%)
References with detected author names
56 / 58 (96.6%)
Without detected author names
2
Without a structured title
1
Without a stable identifier
5
References with raw author names still to review
1
References with external metadata lookup issues
1
These indicators apply to cited references displayed on this page, after technical duplicates have been merged. A reference without a DOI can still support author statistics when a title and author names are available.
Author names detected in the cited bibliography
273
From DOI or external metadata
273
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
1
37 / 273 (13.6%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 236 / 273 (86.4%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
2 / 273 (0.7%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 2 / 37 (5.4%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 1 / 241 (0.4%).
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