A team of researchers has found out that women, who are obese and have diabetes during the time of their pregnancy, are four times as likely to have children with autism than healthy weight mothers without diabetes.
The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health research highlights what has become a leading theory about autism that the risk likely develops before the child is even born.
Study leader Xiaobin Wang said that they have long known that obesity and diabetes aren't good for mothers' own health. Now, they have further evidence that these conditions also impact the long-term neural development of their children.
The research highlights that the risk for autism begins in utero, says co-author M. Daniele Fallin, adding "It's important for us to now try to figure out what is it about the combination of obesity and diabetes that is potentially contributing to sub-optimal fetal health."
In order to prevent autism, we may need to consider not only pregnancy, but also pre-pregnancy health, Fallin noted.
The study is published in the journal Pediatrics.
