In this study, researchers compared the health history of 8,760 children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and 26,280 children without ASD. They found the following risk factors associated with ASD: maternal mental illness, epilepsy, obesity, hypertension, diabetes, polycystic ovary syndrome, infection, or asthma; assisted fertility; hyperemesis, younger maternal age; labor complications; low birth weight; infant infection; epilepsy; birth asphyxia; and newborn complications.
Pediatric Research, March 2018