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Is there a link between low birth weight and autism?

17 October 2011

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Babies who weigh less than 2kg could be at a higher risk of developing autistic spectrum disorder (ASD), according to research published in the journal Pedriatrics.

Researchers followed over 1,000 children born with a birth weight of less than 2kg in the USA. Five percent of the children in the study were diagnosed with ASD by the age of 21. The researchers compared this figure to the general US population diagnosed with autism, which was one percent. They conclude that children born with a low birth weight are more likely to develop ASD than those born with a normal birth weight.

Dr Ryan Mehta, Project Clinical Director, Bupa Health and Wellbeing, said: “It’s difficult to know what we can take from this study, if anything. By the very nature of its design, an observational study can't give us any definitive answers. It’s already well-established that babies born with a low birth weight are more likely to have cognitive and developmental problems. This study adds little to our understanding and, at best, can only allude to a very weak link between ASD and low birth weight.

“One of the main problems with this study is the lack of a comparison group. The researchers looked at the number of children born with low birth weights who went on to be diagnosed with ASD, but without comparing them to a group of children born with normal birth weights who underwent the same screening procedures for autism. Without this, it’s difficult to know if the number of children diagnosed with autism in this study is abnormally high or not. Also, a lot of children initially enrolled in the study dropped out by the time they reached the age of 21 - 632 children were screened for autism at age 16, but only 189 of these children were screened again when they were 21. When problems were detected at 16, they were more likely to be followed up. There is no doubt that losing this many people from the study would have affected the results.

“If you're worried about your child and have noticed any signs of ASD, talk to your GP. For conditions such as ASD it's important to get the right treatment and support for your child and your family as early as possible.”

Over 1,105 babies born weighing below 2kg were initially included in the study. The children were followed up at ages two, six, nine, 16 and 21. At age 16, 623 of the children were screened for ASD. This was carried out using questionnaires and information from any previous medical diagnosis. At age 21, 189 of the children were followed up again to screen for ASD. The rest of the children originally in the study had dropped out or couldn’t be contacted.

Key facts

  • Autistic spectrum disorders (ASDs) are a group of lifelong conditions that affect how a person communicates with and relates to other people.
  • The two main types of autistic spectrum disorders are autism and Asperger syndrome.
  • Children with autism have difficulty communicating and interacting with others and some children may have learning difficulties. Autism is four times more common in boys than girls.
  • Asperger syndrome is similar to autism, but children generally communicate better than those with autism and have average or above average intelligence. They don't usually have the learning difficulties seen in children with autism.
  • Children are usually diagnosed with the condition between the ages of two and three. However, some ASDs, such as Asperger syndrome, only become apparent at school, when a child's poor social skills and challenging behaviour become more noticeable.

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Read the study

Pinto-Martin J, Levey S, Feldmen J, et al. Prevalence of autism spectrum disorder in adolescents born weight <2000 grams. Pediatrics 2011; 128(5):883-91. www.pediatrics.aappublications.org

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