Compliance with the 'Japanese food guide spinning top' for pregnancy and lactation and weight gain during pregnancy.

Autism is defined as a neurodevelopmental condition that manifests in diverse and multidimensional ways (). Evidence shows that prevalence worldwide has increased in the past decades, according to data provided by the World Health Organization (WHO) (). In Latin America, childhood autism should be understood within an ecological framework in which individual characteristics interact with family, school, health-service, socioeconomic, cultural, and policy environments. At the microsystem level, the child’s experience is shaped by family caregiving, daily routines, nutrition, and immediate support (). At the mesosystem level, it depends on the interaction between families, schools, health professionals, and therapeutic services. At the exosystem level, access is influenced by caregiver employment, service availability, waiting lists, transportation, and out-of-pocket costs (). At the macrosystem level, disability legislation, inclusive education policies, stigma, cultural beliefs, and socioeconomic inequality shape recognition and support (). The chronosystem adds a temporal dimension, highlighting how diagnostic delays, school transitions, therapy continuity, and policy changes affect autistic children and their families over time. This perspective is particularly relevant in Latin America, where evidence points to limited prevalence data, uneven service access, and persistent barriers to comprehensive care. In Chile, information regarding autistic children remains limited, and both prevalence and disability burden are not yet fully understood (, ), directly affecting the development of public policies. Given the complexity and heterogeneity of autistic children’s needs, a comprehensive and interdisciplinary approach is required to understand the multiple dimensions involved in their development and contexts. This perspective goes beyond the biopsychosocial approach, which considers the anatomical and physiological conditions of the individual together with the social environments that influence them (, ), and supports the transition toward an ecobiopsychosocial model. Although diagnostic instruments such as the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers-Revised (M-CHAT-R/F), the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, Second Edition (ADOS-2) and the Autism Mental Status Exam (AMSE) () are internationally recognized and highly valuable for screening, clinical observation and diagnostic support, their purpose differs from that of AUTIVA. These tools are primarily designed to identify autistic traits, support diagnostic classification, or guide clinical decision-making according to established diagnostic criteria. AUTIVA, by contrast, is not intended to diagnose autism or to replace standardized diagnostic procedures. Its purpose is to characterize the broader living conditions, support needs, barriers, strengths and contextual determinants that shape the everyday experiences of autistic children and their families. In this sense, AUTIVA should be understood as a complementary public health and research instrument, designed to generate multidimensional information that may inform local surveillance, service planning and policy development.