Autism may be linked to obesity during pregnancy

More early nutritional child abuse.

Obesity during pregnancy may increase chances for having a child with autism, provocative new research suggests.

It's among the first studies linking the two, and though it doesn't prove obesity causes autism, the authors say their results raise public health concerns because of the high level of obesity in this country.

Study women who were obese during pregnancy were about 67 percent more likely than normal-weight women to have autistic children. They also faced double the risk of having children with other developmental delays.

The fat should not reproduce.