Dietary and nutritional interventions in the treatment of childhood neuropsychiatric disorders: evidence and myths
Abstract
Objective: To analyze the current scientific literature on the main dietary and nutritional interventions proposed for children and adolescents with neuropsychiatric disorders and describe their efficacy and safety, differentiating evidence-based practices from common myths.
Data source: The search was conducted using PubMed, SciELO, Cochrane, and Web of Science databases (2019-2025). The specific terms used in the search were formulated to encompass dietary interventions in children and adolescents with neuropsychiatric disorders and their outcomes.
Data synthesis: Gluten-free and casein-free (GFCF) diets did not reduce ASD symptoms and should be reserved for confirmed allergy or intolerance. Probiotics have shown inconsistent results for core ASD/ADHD symptoms, although they may alleviate gastrointestinal complaints in subgroups. Omega-3 s have shown modest and heterogeneous effects; In ADHD, high-dose EPA may improve attention when baseline levels are low, without consistent benefit in other domains. N-acetylcysteine reduced irritability in some trials, with no consistent effect on core symptoms. Folinic acid showed benefits in subgroups defined by biomarkers (folate receptor autoantibodies) and in ASD with language impairment, but this needs to be confirmed in larger studies. For vitamin D, high rates of insufficiency and possible modest gains in sub-outcomes were observed, with methodological heterogeneity.
Conclusions: This literature review showed that there is no…
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