Maternal obesity and diabetes during pregnancy and early autism screening score at well-child visits in standard clinical practice.
Sarah A Carter, Jane C Lin, Ting Chow and 7 others
PMID 37646431WHAT IT FOUND
Children of mothers with obesity or diabetes during pregnancy scored higher on autism screening at 18-24 months.
These links held even for children who were not later diagnosed with autism, suggesting these prenatal exposures associate with broader social and behavioral differences.
Key findings
01Maternal obesity classes 1-3 and preexisting or early gestational diabetes were associated with higher continuous QCHAT-10 scores in toddlers.
02Associations between maternal metabolic conditions and higher screening scores remained significant after excluding children later diagnosed with ASD.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study is observational and cannot prove that maternal obesity or diabetes causes higher screening scores. Paternal data and genetic information were not available, so parental genetic contributions to child behavior could not be controlled for. The QCHAT-10 relies on parental report, which may be influenced by factors not captured in the medical records. Residual confounders such as environmental exposures and postnatal risk factors were not adjusted for.
Declared interests
The authors declare no actual or potential competing interests. The study was supported by non-U.S. government and NIH extramural research funding.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret this as evidence that maternal obesity or diabetes causes autism. The study found associations with screening scores, not a causal link, and many children with high scores did not go on to be diagnosed with ASD. Additionally, the associations were slightly weaker when children with ASD were excluded, indicating the link is not exclusive to diagnosed autism.