BY BOB HOLT

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

A longer time between childbirths may lessen the younger child's chances of autism, according to an early study.

Children born less than two years after their siblings were considerably more likely to have an autism diagnosis compared to those born after at least three years, suggests the report, which is based on more than a half-million California children.

The effect was found for parents of all ages, decreasing the chance that it was older parents which caused the higher risk.

According to Reuters, of all second siblings whose mothers became pregnant with them less than a year after giving birth to the older sibling, about 7.5 in every 1,000 were diagnosed with autism. When mothers became pregnant three years or more after giving birth, about 2.5 out of every 1,000 younger siblings were diagnosed with autism.

"No matter what we did, whether we were looking at, we couldn't get rid of this finding," said senior author Peter Bearman, of Columbia University in New York. Still, he said more studies are needed to confirm the birth spacing link.

NorthJersey.com reports that reasons behind the birth spacing-autism link aren't clear. It could be that parents are more likely to notice developmental problems when siblings are very close in age, Bearman said. When 2-year-old Billy isn't developing like 3-year-old Bobby, parents might be more likely to seek help.

Also, pregnancy depletes a mother's nutrients like folate, a B vitamin found in leafy green vegetables, citrus fruit and dried beans. Prior research has tied close birth spacing to low birth weights and prematurity, possibly because of lack of folate.

The researchers looked at births from 1992 through 2002 in California. They analyzed data on second-born children born to the same parents whose older siblings didn't have autism.

The overall prevalence of autism was less than 1 percent in the study. Of all the 662,730 second-born children in the analysis, 3,137 had an autism diagnosis. Of the 156,034 children conceived less than a year after the birth of their older siblings, 1,188 had an autism diagnosis — a higher rate, but still less than 1 percent.

According to umdnj.edu, a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta shows that across the nation, autism rates are in the range of approximately 1 in 150 8-year-old children affected by an autism spectrum disorder in areas surveyed in 2000 and 2002.

Researchers in 14 states conducted the autism monitoring activities in demographically representative sections of their states, under a CDC-sponsored network called the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network.

The New Jersey monitoring covered Essex, Hudson, Union and Ocean counties. The autism spectrum disorder prevalence rates identified in those areas of New Jersey were higher than in other ADDM-surveyed states - 9.9 cases per 1,000 8-year-olds in 2000, and 10.6 cases per 1,000 8-year-olds in 2002. According to the findings, New Jersey's autism rate is the highest of the 14 states in the ADDM network.

According to autismnj.org, in December Senators Christopher Dodd (D-CT) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ) proposed legislation to comprehensively address autism and support those families and individuals living with it. The legislation includes provisions to boost autism research, provide support services for affected individuals and families and to improve the health care of those living with autism.

Senator Menendez said: "Families in New Jersey, more than anywhere else, understand that we need to address autism on multiple fronts — with research, with early treatment and with a support structure and services for affected individuals and families.

The original Combating Autism Act of 2006 was a bi-partisan effort which expanded federal investment for autism research through National Institutes of Health, services, diagnosis and treatment through Health Resources and Services Administration, and surveillance and awareness efforts through the CDC. The reauthorization bill will extend these authorizations and also make an investment in services related activities and create a new National Institute of Autism Spectrum Disorders within NIH.