A new provocative study shows that compared to healthy-weight mothers, obese women are 67 percent more likely to have a child with autism. They were also about twice as likely to have a child with another developmental disorder.
Can autism be preventable? Scientists say, yes. And autism research points to early diagnosis and intervention — as early as when the child is eight months old — as the best way to stop this disabling brain disorder in its tracks.
But really being able to prevent autism requires a complete understanding of its causes — and scientists are still putting together that picture, despite intensive research for many decades.
