Fats and the Facts So long story short a friend of mine just had her kid diagnosed with Autism and being the 3rd or 4th kid from my group of acquaintances to be diagnosed I was curious and started researching it. One major article recently published (news article summary here) details how a hormonal imbalance in the mother creates a much higher chance of the child developing autism, specifically with mothers diagnosed with PCOS, the main hormonal imbalance disease women are diagnosed with.  Which got me thinking, Autism diagnoses have exponentially increased in recent years, and most chalk it up to the fact that it's only relatively recently become a recognized and identifiable disorder.  But what else has exponentially increased over recent years? Obesity.  So some further research landed me at the Autism Speaks official website (I'm sure you've seen the ads) and here they discuss the potential link between obesity of the mother and autism.  Please note the top left corner photo of the writer Alycia Halladay, Ph.D., Autism Speaks director for environmental research. Little portly eh?  She starts with some good facts,  This past week, the journal Pediatrics published a study that shows an association between maternal obesity and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). It also links type 2 diabetes and gestational (pregnancy-related) diabetes with ASD. then snippets of fat logic start to show These maternal health conditions are associated with increased autism risk in some people, but are not necessarily causative. In other words, these factors slightly increase the risk for autism in some people, but do not directly cause it.  Further, the researchers suggest that the increased risk is likely due to an underlying metabolic condition – such as insulin resistance – which is associated with obesity and diabetes. More research is needed to better understand how a mother’s insulin resistance can affect a child’s prenatal development. She then gives a few paragraphs on other potential causes entirely unrelated to obesity to further prove if you're fat and have an autistic child it ain't your fault honey! Scientists consider all of these influences to be “environmental” risk factors for autism, to distinguish them from genetic factors. It’s important to understand that no one of these environmental influences causes autism in and of itself. Rather they appear to increase or decrease the relative risk of autism – at least in those who are genetically predisposed to ASD. It's all them genituks fault.  The article then ends with a somewhat generic, but positive message on health and pregnancy, but also not entirely compelling obese mothers to lose the fucking weight.  Therefore, the most compelling guidance to women who are pregnant or thinking of becoming pregnant is to be as healthy as you can be. Seek and follow the guidance of your obstetrician or other healthcare provider before you become pregnant and through your pregnancy. All in all, TLDR, overweight/obese PhD author spends less than 20% of an article titled "mom's obesity and autism" actually talking about mom's obesity and autism before delving into the other "potential risk factors" and "genituks" I thought the scientific/medical community was of a "do no harm" position where the studies and findings should be presented with as little bias as possible and in such a way as to further research and findings to achieve a greatest good goal. This cow, and many others, seem intent on disproving, or at least downplaying research identifying a critical component in the link to autism. What else have they done? We know sugar seems to play a role in cancer growth. What other areas of research are they stunting? It just seems like every where I look, even in the most unlikely of places, they've got their big greasy hoof prints all over it. edit: another pic