Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support children with autism and food aversions to improve their diet.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines entitled ‘Autism spectrum disorder in under 19s: support and management’ describes the support, treatment and help that health and care professional can provide to autistic children and young people. We advise commissioners to follow these guidelines. The guidelines do not currently advise on food aversion although guidelines are updated periodically.

The NHS Long Term Plan aims to tackle the causes of morbidity and preventable deaths in people with a learning disability and for autistic people. As part of this, NHS England will pilot the introduction of a specific health check for autistic people aimed at improving health outcomes.