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Autism in Children, Autistic children, excess blood sugar, increasing obesity rates in the US, inflammation-related substances, journal pediatrics, obesity and autism, Obesity in Mothers
April is National Autism Awareness Month, and it’s been marked by a steady stream of research about the causes of the disorder.
Pregnant women now have one more reason to watch their diet and exercise.
A new study shows the obesity epidemic may be contributing to the rising number of children diagnosed with autism.
The study released Monday in the journal Pediatrics shows that compared to non-obese mothers those who were obese before pregnancy had a 60-percent increase in the likelihood of having a child with autism.
The average risk of birthing an autistic child is approximately one in 88, but this risk increased to one in 53 for obese mothers.
The reason is unclear, but researchers believe excess blood sugar and inflammation-related substances in the mothers blood maybe to blame.
Based on the results, the researchers suggest increasing obesity rates in the United States could be playing a role in the rapidly increasing rate of autism.
However, scientists say more research is needed to confirm the results, which only indicate a correlation between obesity and autism, and not causation.