Obese mothers are 60 percent more likely to have a child with autism, a new study has found.
Researchers from the University of California, Davis and Vanderbilt University studied over 1000 children aged two to five, some of whom had autism or other developmental disorders.
Related: The joys and challenges of raising an autistic child
The researchers studied the children’s health and development as well as their mother’s health history.
They found that mothers who were obese when they got pregnant were 60 percent more likely to have a child with autism than mothers who were at a healthy weight when they conceived.
Obese mothers were also 50 percent more likely to have a child with other developmental disorders.
The risk was even higher in mothers who had high blood pressure as well as being obese.
Despite the findings, the researchers stressed that autism is a mysterious disorder, and just being obese is not enough to cause it.
“No one factor is going to be responsible for any one child’s case,” study leader Irva Hertz-Picciotto. “This is not a ‘blame the mom’ thing.”
Autism now affects more children than ever. Last month, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that one in 88 US children are on the autism spectrum, up from one in 110 in 2009.
Research suggests the incidence of autism in Australia is also increasing. A 2009 study from Melbourne’s La Trobe University reported that as many as one in 100 children were born with an autism spectrum disorder, compared to one in 130 in 2005.
Related: Autism linked to vitamin consumption
The precise cause of autism is still unknown, but scientists believe about 50 percent of cases are genetic, while the rest are caused by lifestyle factors including older parents, lack of prenatal vitamins, environmental toxins and premature birth.
The research was published in the current issue of Pediatrics.
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