Autism May Be Linked To Obesity During Pregnancy
Posted Monday, April 9, 2012 --- 7:30 a.m.
CHICAGO (AP) -- New research says obesity during pregnancy might increase chances for having a child with autism.
It's among the first studies linking the two. It doesn't prove obesity causes autism, but the authors say their results raise public health concerns because of the high level of obesity in the U.S.
The study involved about 1,000 California children, ages 2 to 5. Results are being released online Monday in the journal Pediatrics.
Previous research has linked obesity during pregnancy with stillbirths, preterm births and some birth defects.
The authors are with the University of California, Davis. They say the results add yet another incentive for maintaining a healthy weight.
Copyright 2012. The Associated Press.
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by SafeMinds Location: Madison on Apr 16, 2012 at 06:27 PMIf autism is being linked to obesity, what is obesity being linked to? Why aren't we looking further into the issues instead of saying the first thing that we find is the cause? If women were naturally obese, I might be able to buy this result. But if obesity isn't natural, shouldn't we be looking at the cause of obesity as the potential for BOTH obesity and autism? The same thing with "older dads" as a cause. What about older dads should make folks think there may be a link but not a direct cause? How about accumulation of toxic chemicals that could cause endocrine disruption (mutated sperm)? As we age our bodies build up levels of toxic chemicals (our body burden). These studies are interesting, but shouldn't you be talking to experts at the UW about how there might be other things we should consider in linking cause and effect? The media needs to be a little less lazy about finding the true story....[ Report Abuse ]
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