Study ties maternal obesity, diabetes to increased autism risk in children

Johns Hopkins pointed out the importance of this research as the prevalence of autism has “skyrocketed” at the same time that obesity and diabetes have reached epidemic levels in women of child-bearing age.

All the babies’ mothers were interviewed one to three days following delivery, with their obesity and diabetes status noted.

Autism spectrum disorder is a serious neuro-developmental condition characterised by severe deficits in socialisation, verbal and nonverbal communication and repetitive behaviours.

Guided by this train of thought, Roberts suggests that women might be able to curb the probability that their children will suffer from autism and other neural development problems, simply by adopting a healthier lifestyle.

Around 1 in 4 mothers are obese during pregnancy while 1 out of 10 mothers develop diabetes. However, some research has suggested that obesity and diabetes may disrupt the functioning of a mother’s immune system, and this in turn may contribute to the development of autism in the child, the researchers said. It is highly advisable that people wishing to have children become as healthy as they possibly can in order to minimize the risk not just of autism spectrum disorders, but birth defects of all kinds.

Maternal obesity was linked to a 92 percent increased risk for autism on its own, while diabetes diagnosed before pregnancy was associated with more than triple the risk. Mothers with children diagnosed with ASD tend to be older, obese and have a prior diabetes diagnosis, either during or before pregnancy.

Wang and his team found that the risk of autism among babies born to women who are either obese or diabetic increases to about 3 percent.

There’s some alarming news for pregnant women: a new study has found that being obese during pregnancy have nearly twice thew odds of getting a child who has autism than women who aren’t obese.

Both obesity and diabetes may also promote inflammation in a pregnant woman’s body, and intrauterine and fetal brain inflammation have been implicated in the development of autism in children, the study said.

The children of obese mothers who developed gestational diabetes were also significantly more likely to develop ASD. But a major study could shed new light on some of the maternal health factors that may increase children’s risk of developing the condition.

The biology of why obesity and diabetes may contribute to autism risk isn’t well understood.

Study authors also noticed that maternal obesity occurring in conjunction with diabetes led to a much greater likelihood that the infant would experience intellectual disabilities. “We need to do a lot more work to figure out which of these might truly be in play”, she said, adding a bit of hope to the findings: “This points to prenatal origins of risk for autism, but it also points to prevention because these are modifiable risk factors”. The Pediatrics study is supported in part by the Ludwig Family Foundation; the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (U01AI90727 and R21AI079872) and the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (R40MC27442).