Efficacy of MAD as add-on Therapy in Comparison With Standard of Care in Children With ASD

In general ketogenic diet is a recognized as an efficient non pharmacological treatment for children with refractory epilepsy. However, in the last decade, it has been tried for many neurological disorders in children including ASD, neurodegenerative disorders. Studies have shown that KD also helps in improvement of cognition, social skills, language function, and stereotypies. There is a limited number of reports of improvements after KD treatment, was insufficient evidence to attest the practicability of the KD as a treatment for ASD, but it is still a good indicator that this diet is a promising therapeutic option for this disorder. There are no major RCT's, hence raises concerns about the reliability and generalizability of findings. Majority of studies have used combined ketogenic diet therapy rather than single diet therapy and not many studies have compared add-on dietary intervention with standard of care. When compared to classic KD diet Modified Atkin's Diet is less restrictive, more palatable, more feasible and early response can be achieved. In summary, the rationale for conducting this study lies in the importance of add on dietary therapy in form of Modified Atkin's Diet along with standard of care for improvement of behavioral symptoms in children with ASD aged 3-8 years. This study aims to provide valuable insights that it can improve behavioral symptoms in ASD, early and ultimately improve the developmental outcomes in these children.