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SALT LAKE CITY — A new study released by University of Utah psychiatric researchers shows a link between weight gain before and during pregnancy and autism spectrum disorders (ASD).

Dr. Deborah A. Bilder is the lead author of the study and an associate professor of psychiatry at the U. Along with a team of researchers, Bilder tracked the prevalence of children with ASD and the weight their mothers gained before and during pregnancy.

According to a January 2013 article from The Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System, Utah vital records data show 51 percent of Utah women had excessive weight gain during pregnancy and 1 in 3 were overweight before becoming pregnant.

“The risk of autism spectrum disorder associated with a modest yet consistent increase in pregnancy weight gain suggests that pregnancy weight gain may serve as an important marker for autism’s underlying gestational etiology,” Bilder said.

Bilder said she doesn’t recommend any changes in pregnancy nutritional guidelines at this time, but did point out that excessive pregnancy weight gain could be a correlating link to ASD.

“Doctors have known for a long time that proper nutrition is essential to a healthy pregnancy,” Bilder said. "Pregnant women should not change their diets based on these results. Rather, this study provides one more piece of the autism puzzle that researchers are exploring.”

There have been numerous fetal abnormalities linked to an elevated maternal body mass index during pregnancy. The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has linked a maternal BMI of 30 or greater with prematurity, stillbirth, congenital abnormalities and childhood obesity.

These findings suggest that weight gain during pregnancy is not the cause of ASD but rather may reflect an underlying process that it shares with autism spectrum disorders, such as abnormal hormone levels or inflammation. –Deborah A. Bilder

Researchers of the University of Utah study, titled “Maternal Prenatal Weight Gain and Autism Spectrum Disorders,” looked at two separate study groups. The first group compared 128 8-year-olds living in the Salt Lake Valley who had been diagnosed with ASD with a control group of 10,920 children of the same age and gender.

The second group compared 288 children diagnosed with ASD with their unaffected siblings.

After comparing both groups and collecting data, the researchers identified the common variable between excessive pregnancy weight gain and children born with ASD.

“These findings suggest that weight gain during pregnancy is not the cause of ASD but rather may reflect an underlying process that it shares with autism spectrum disorders, such as abnormal hormone levels or inflammation,” Bilder said.

Pregnant women should not change their diets based on these results. Rather, this study provides one more piece of the autism puzzle that researchers are exploring. –Deborah A. Bilder

The most recent statistics estimate that 1 in 63 Utah children have an autism spectrum disorder. An additional study released by the CDC in 2012 estimated the numbers may be closer to 1 in 47. Individuals with ASD experience neurobehavioral disorders manifested by a "spectrum" of impaired social interactions and other problems.

Bilder said she hopes to do further research in ASD studies and continue to find the core cause of the disorder.

“This calls for further investigation of its underlying etiology as a public health concern,” Bilder said.

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