Researchers Say Closely Timed Pregnancies May Deplete Mothers of Key Nutrients, Such as Folate
By Denise Mann
WebMD Health News
Reviewed by Laura J. Martin, MD

Jan 10, 2011 -- Children born within one year of an older sibling may be three times more likely to be diagnosed with autism, according to a new study in the February issue of Pediatrics.

The study calls attention to interpregnancy interval (IPI), the duration between pregnancies, as a potential risk factor for autism. In the past, much focus has been on environmental triggers of autism such as vaccines as opposed to maternal physiological triggers such as the womb environment.

If the new findings are confirmed and proven to be related to maternal depletion of key nutrients such as folate, it may be possible to prevent autism with nutritional supplements, the study authors and autism experts suggest.

The latest statistics from the CDC show that one in 110 children in the U.S. has an autism spectrum disorder. This is the umbrella term for a group of developmental disorders that can range from mild to severe and that often affect social interaction and communication skills. According to information in the new study, the proportion of births occurring within two years of an earlier birth increased from 11% to 18% between 1995 and 2002.

Researchers analyzed autism risk among more than 660,000 second-born children born in California from 1992 to 2002. Those children who were conceived within one year of an older sibling were more than three times as likely to be diagnosed with autism when compared to peers who were conceived more than three years after the birth of an older sibling.

Children conceived 12 to 23 months after an older sibling were nearly two times more likely to be diagnosed with autism; children conceived two years to 35 months following an older sibling were one and a quarter times more likely to be diagnosed with autism, the study showed.

The findings held even after researchers took into account other factors that may be related to closely timed pregnancies, such as maternal age and maternal education.

“The robustness of the findings was really shocking,” says study author Peter Bearman, PhD, the Jonathan Cole Professor of the Social Sciences at Columbia University in New York City.