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A study by Australian researchers has found changes in the gut microbiome of people on the autism spectrum appear to be due to 鈥渇ussy eating鈥�, which is more common among autistic children due to sensory sensitivities or restricted and repetitive interests.

First-author Chloe Yap from and said, 鈥淲hile it鈥檚 a popular idea that the microbiome affects behaviour, our findings flip that causality on its head.鈥�

Yap and fellow researchers examined genetic material from stool samples of 247 children, including 99 children diagnosed with autism. 鈥淲e found that children with an autism diagnosis tended to be pickier eaters, which led them to have a less diverse microbiome. This in turn was linked to more-watery stools. So, our data suggests that behaviour and dietary preferences affect the microbiome, rather than the other way around,鈥� Yap said.

The findings of the study, led by Mater Research and The University of Queensland, are being published in the scientific journal Cell.

Senior study investigator and head of Mater Research鈥檚 Cognitive Health Genomics Group Dr Jake Gratten said that out of more than 600 bacterial species identified in the gut microbiomes of study participants, only one was associated with a diagnosis of ASD.

鈥淭here鈥檚 been a lot of hype around the gut microbiome in autism in recent years, driven by reports that autistic children have high rates of gut problems. But that hype has outstripped the evidence,鈥� Dr Gratten said.

鈥淲e are already seeing early clinical trials involving faecal microbiota transplants from non-autistic donors to autistic people, despite not actually having evidence that the microbiome drives autism. Our results suggest that these studies are premature.鈥�

Autism CRC Research Strategy Director Professor Andrew Whitehouse from the Telethon Kids Institute and University of Western Australia said the findings provide impressive clarity to an area that has been shrouded in mystery and controversy.

鈥淔amilies are desperately seeking new ways to support their child鈥檚 development and wellbeing. Sometimes that strong desire can lead them to diet or biological therapies that have no basis in scientific evidence,鈥� Professor Whitehouse said.

鈥淭he findings of this study provide clear evidence that we need to help support families at mealtimes, rather than trying fad diets. This is a hugely important finding.鈥�

Professor聽Valsamma Eapen, Chair of Infant, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at UNSW Sydney, said the study used a comprehensive dataset with other clinical and biological measures.

鈥淭his allowed us to examine the complex relationships of the microbiome with dietary preferences, clinical data and genetics,鈥� she said.

Brisbane autistic woman Trudy Bartlett said the research findings provided an important step forward for the autism community.

鈥淚 have found that many autistics have gut issues, which I thought may be linked to the fact that many of us聽鈥� including myself聽鈥� have restrictive diets so we may not get all the nutrients we should. Wanting to know more about it is like walking through a minefield trying to filter fact from fiction,鈥� she said.

鈥淗aving evidence-based research like this study will help members of the autism community to navigate this space and not spend copious amounts of money and time on fads that claim to improve the quality of life for an autistic person.鈥�

The study claims to be one of the largest to date to examine what organisms are in the stool microbiome and what those organisms have the potential to do. The stool samples and dietary information of the 247 children were sourced from the Australian Autism Biobank and the Queensland Twin Adolescent Brain Project.

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