Cross Cultural Adaptation and Pre-testing of Feeding and Eating in AutiSm Together (FEAST) for the Indian population

While there are plenty of tools for feeding assessment in children, specific tools for feeding assessment in children with autism are limited. FEAST is one of the comprehensive tools for feeding assessment in children with autism, originally developed for Western dietary habits and does not reflect India’s diverse dietary habits, family structures, or environmental factors. The lack of cultural sensitivity and adaption hinders accurate diagnosis as well as intervention for feeding disorders in children with autism in India. Hence, this study is being conducted to have a culturally suitable tool that helps in identification of underlying etiology in children with autism in the Indian population.

Addressing feeding difficulties in children with ASD is a complex challenge that demands a multifaceted strategy. While the scales offer valuable insights, there are still substantial gaps, particularly regarding the integration of sensory and Oromotor factors, the creation of standardized scoring systems, cultural adaptations, and the examination of relational dynamics.  The FEAST tool stands out as a comprehensive assessment tool that bridges these gaps and pushes the field of feeding assessments in autism forward. It’s designed to evaluate mealtime challenges across four key areas: Sensory Processing, Oral Motor Skills, Behaviour, and Gastrointestinal Health. Not only does it provide total severity score and subscale scores to help with clinical planning, but it also demonstrates good construct validity and internal consistency, capturing unique feeding-related aspects that other tools don’t address.

By filling this gap, FEAST comprehensively assesses the various factors that impact feeding in ASD. Studies show that the FEAST Total Score and Behaviour subscale correlate well with BAMBIC and STEPCHILD, confirming its measure of general feeding problems (St John et al., 2025). The Sensory, Oral Motor, and Gastrointestinal Health subscales show weak correlations with these other tools, which is interpreted as a benefit. It suggests that FEAST is capturing additional, distinct factors related to feeding challenges that other tools miss, providing a more detailed view.

Given the lack of resources in the current Indian context, FEAST would serve as a efficient tool in assessing feeding and eating behaviours in children with Autism