Mom's weight may be risk factor for autism

If this is true, what will the industry do about weight loss? There are a lot of reason that people are overweight. In areas where there is not access to fresh produce, are they going to address this? Are they going to address the ingredients that are in the process foods that we eat on a daily basis? Are they going to make weight loss surgery more affordable? Are they going to offer mental health counseling to people as they attempt to make the changes they need? There are so many questions!!!!

A mother's weight and diabetic condition may increase the risk of her unborn child developing a neurodevelopmental disorder, such as autism, according to a new study published in this week's journal Pediatrics.

Researchers with the UC Davis MIND Institute in California found that mothers-to-be who were obese were 67% more likely to have a child with autism as opposed to normal-weight mothers without diabetes or hypertension.

And a pregnant woman who is obese doubles her child's risk of having another developmental disorder (poor communication skills, lack of attention) compared to a child born to a mother at healthy weight.

The study included 1,004 mother-and-child pairs who were enrolled in the Childhood Autism Risks from Genetics and the Environment Study (CHARGE). Most of the families were from Northern California, with a small group living in Los Angeles.

The children were between 24 and 60 months old; 517 children had autism; 172 with other developmental disorders; and 315 were developing normally. The participants were enrolled between January 2003 and June 2010.

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