Shots - Health Blog Mon April 9, 2012 Study Warns Of Autism Risk
For Children Of Obese Mothers Scientists have found one more
reason that pregnancy and obesity can be a bad combination. A
new study in the journal Pediatrics suggests that moms who are
obese or have diabetes are more likely to have a child with
autism or another developmental problem. The finding is
"worrisome in light of this rather striking epidemic of obesity"
in the U.S., says Irva Hertz-Picciotto from the MIND Institute
at the University of California, Davis, one of the study's
authors. But it's not clear whether there's any connection
between rising obesity rates and the increasing number of
children diagnosed with autism, she says. The new study looked
at about 1,000 mothers. Half of them had a child with an autism
spectrum disorder, while the rest had a child with a
developmental delay unrelated to autism, or no developmental
problem. Researchers wanted to know whether autism was more
likely if a woman was obese, diabetic or had high bl