CHICAGO (AP) -- Obesity during pregnancy may increase chances
for having a child with autism, provocative new research
suggests. It's among the first studies linking the two, and
though it doesn't prove obesity causes autism, the authors say
their results raise public health concerns because of the high
level of obesity in this country. Study women who were obese
during pregnancy were about 67 percent more likely than normal-
weight women to have autistic children. They also faced double
the risk of having children with other developmental delays. On
average, women face a 1 in 88 chance of having a child with
autism; the results suggest that obesity during pregnancy would
increase that to a 1 in 53 chance, the authors said. The study
was released online Monday in Pediatrics. Since more than one-
third of U.S. women of child-bearing age are obese, the results
are potentially worrisome and add yet another incentive for
maintaining a normal weight, said researcher Paula Krakowiak, a
study co-author and scientist a