Autism rates declining among wealthy whites, while escalating among poor, minorities

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-03/uoca-ard032020.php

News Release 20-Mar-2020
University of Colorado at Boulder

Wealthy, white California counties--once considered the nation's hotbeds for autism spectrum disorder (ASD)--have seen prevalence flatten or fall in the last two decades, while rates among poor whites and minorities keep ticking up, new CU Boulder research has found.

The study, published March 19 in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, raises the possibility that parents in wealthier counties are successfully reducing environmental exposures that may contribute to autism risk, or taking other steps to curb its severity early on.

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Some health experts have attributed such increases among minorities to better screening and diagnosis, but the authors believe environmental factors also play a role.

Just which factors may be at play is unclear, but Parker notes that many of the same things that fuel disease-causing inflammation--toxins, unhealthy food and emotional stress--are also associated with autism. And lower-income and minority families tend to have a harder time accessing or affording healthier lifestyle options.

Established risk factors associated with autism include: advanced parental age, challenges to the immune system during pregnancy, genetic mutations, premature birth and being a twin or multiple.

The authors cannot say if their findings would translate to other counties around the country or to milder forms of autism. They also cannot rule out that wealthy families are opting out of state services in favor of private services. More research is underway.

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