Very interesting to link that to the findings!

A tough read…as someone who has a sister with 2 kids on the spectrum and she’s the fittest, healthiest woman I know…and even with abs after now having 5 kids…not sure how well versed the study is…and for those with family and friends that are neurodiverse this may be misleading.

This seems to be one of those issues where the difference between correlation and causation needs to be considered as well. For instance, is it types of food being consumed rather than obesity itself, is there a link between obesity and individuals with ASD – and if so is it that they are passing ASD genetically instead.

Nope, don’t agree with this study, what a load of BS.
Autism is genetic. Not only is this article and study harmful misinformation but also very disrespectful to the neurodiverse community and mothers. Being a mother can be hard enough without their weight being blamed for their children being autistic.

Grasping at straws maybe but good that they’re still looking for causes

I think being healthy leading up to pregnancy and during pregnancy is very important to mitigate any possible health issues for the mother and baby. We all want our babies to be healthy and the best place to start is before you start trying for a baby.

It’s only talking about gaining weight during pregnancy, what about if women are already obese when they fall pregnant. Does it make a difference then as well?

It is incredibly important to share this kind of information, but given how hard it is to deal with obesity – and what a widespread problem it is – I’m a bit wary of it being made something that women are blamed for. I would prefer to see obesity dealt with as a societal problem.

I think health during pregnancy should be priority. Your mental and physical health. A healthy baby starts in the womb, some things are out of our control but some things are within our control too.

So Mum is to blame then.. seems like they are grasping at staws for this finding. First off all, must Women by the time they are full term are considered obese. I was 80kg when I was full term and lost 10kg when I gave birth. So 70kg and the nurses were telling me I had to take blood clot medication because I’m so obese. They need to stop telling women things are their fault as well.

Whilst I take this article with a pinch of salt, when you Google the cause of Autism it comes up with Scientists believe it is caused by both genetic and environmental factors. When you Google more into these environmental factors it does say that “Progress has been made toward understanding different environmental risk factors, and the clearest evidence involves events before and during birth, such as: Advanced parental age at time of conception. Prenatal exposure to air pollution or certain pesticides. Maternal obesity, diabetes, or immune system disorders”.
I think it needs more scientific study

When I first saw this come up I was aghast but didn’t want to comment in case I was the only one who thought this was a whole lot of crud. Autism has nothing whatsoever to do with your weight. My family are all slim, we all have children on the spectrum so that debunks the theory straight away!! My feelings are if 1 or more parent is on the spectrum then the children most likely will be.

I doubt this is true. Mothers of all sizes have children with autism.

I think obesity has as much relevance to autism as immunisations do. Although it’s great to see research continuing

Sorry but not agreeing with this article. Deformities are caused by medication taken pregnancy which interacts and causing side effects that are determinential to an unborn child. I just disagree with things in this article, based I believe on someone’s biased ideas relating to obesity, pregnancy and babies born at the time.

IT IS ALL Crap read the notes and you find it applies to men and women from all over the world in bits from a variety not yet finished or so far reliable studies . In short this is just a disgusting waste of time for this site and a dumb effort by the writer trying to manipulate pure crap into gold .

This is awful and misinformed. This should be taken down as it is harmful and incorrect.

Whether it ends up being correct or not it is a good thing that they are researching the causes as the numbers seem to be growing. It could be the additives in our foods or chemicals in the air or the plastics & metals we put food in. It is very worrying.

I don’t think that it should come as any surprise that being obese while pregnant would cause negative results. I’m not 100% sold on the autism thing claimed in the article. I can see from my husband’s family on his mother’s side that it is clearly genetic. However, people who are obese are that way for a reason – they don’t exercise enough or eat a healthy diet. Not exercising while pregnant makes for a higher risk birth as well as it being bad for you and well, your baby is getting all of the nutrients that you are putting into your body, so if you eat crap, your baby is not getting what they need either.

This is obviously wrong, and hurtful to the neurodiverse community.
Firstly, we know that Austism is genetic, and secondly neither of these are behavioural conditions. Most importantly, though, the article continues to imply that having these conditions is bad, and even says it is an ‘adverse outcome’.
So the article not just shames people with autism and adhd, but tries to find someone to blame for it. Way to dehumanise with incorrect information.