Autism Finding Makes Time Magazine’s Top 10

A new development in autism research is among Time Magazine’s “Top 10 New Findings in Parenting” for the year.

In one of several year-end top 10 lists on the newsweekly’s website, the magazine highlights an October study which found that premature babies have a five times higher risk of autism.

Time put the study, which appeared in the journal Pediatrics, at number eight on their list of the most significant findings of the year for moms and dads.

Other developments to make the list include the discovery that a healthy diet during pregnancy can reduce chances of spina bifida and other neural tube defects, findings about the safety of sex during pregnancy and new information about the impact Facebook use has on a child’s grades in school.

The magazine said that the number one finding in parenting this year was a study which found that women who believe they can strike a perfect balance between work and home responsibilities are more likely to suffer from depression than those who accept that they cannot.

The autism study featured in the Time top 10 list followed a group of New Jersey kids through age 21 who were born between 1984 and 1987 weighing less than 2,000 grams, or about 4 pounds, 6 ounces. Researchers found this group had an autism prevalence rate of 5 percent, which is significantly higher than the 1 percent rate of occurrence reported by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the general population.

“Parents of preemies need to be especially aware of the potential for this and really pay attention to what’s happening with their children,” the study’s lead author, Jennifer Pinto-Martin of the University of Pennsylvania, told Disability Scoop in October.