Study links obesity in pregnant mothers to increased risk of autism

A new study has identified a possible link between obesity in pregnant mothers and autism in their children.

The study, published online in the journal Pediatrics, found more than a third of American woman of child-bearing age are obese.

This troubled the authors, who found women who were obese during pregnancy were 67 times more likely to have autistic children than their non-obese counterparts.

The average risk of birthing an autistic child is approximately 1-in-88, but this risk increased to 1-in-53 for obese mothers.

Scientists say more research is needed to confirm the results, which only indicate a correlation between obesity and autism, and not causation.

Based on the results, the researchers suggest increasing obesity rates in the United States could be playing a role in the rapidly increasing rate of autism.

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