The Caregiver Dilemma: Poor Diet, High Reward-Driven Eating, and Metabolic Health

We compared high-stress caregivers of a child with ASD to mothers of neurotypical children along measures of dietary intake, reward-drive, and metabolic health. Caregivers had poorer diet: greater soda and lower fruit intake. Caregivers high in reward-drive had ate less vegetables; Unhealthy eating predicted greater HOMA-IR, particularly among caregivers.