The intake of vitamins for pregnant women and folic acid before conception and in the period of gestation reduces the risk of autism in children.

Such data are published on the pages of JAMA Psychiatry.

Autistic spectrum disorders, or autism, are widespread developmental disorders that occur at an early age and are characterized by a decrease in social interaction and repetitive behavior. According to the latest data from the US CDC, 1 in 68 American children suffers from one or another disorder from the ASD spectrum.

Dr. Stephen Levine of the University of Haifa in Israel, along with colleagues, conducted a cohort study of 45,300 Israeli children born between January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2007. Monitoring of babies was conducted from birth until January 26, 2015.

Vitamins for pregnant women are the key to preventing autism?.

According to the observation results, 1.3% of 45,300 children in the study were diagnosed with ASD - autism spectrum disorders. A statistically significant relationship was found between taking folic acid and multivitamins with mothers before conception and during pregnancy with an incidence of autism (a relative risk of 0.39).

If the future mother took folic acid and vitamins for pregnant women, the probability of giving birth to children with autism was reduced by almost four (relative risk of 0.27).

The relative risks associated with the use of folic acid before and during pregnancy, as well as multivitamins before and during pregnancy were 0.56, 0.32, 0.36 and 0.35 respectively.

"Adoption of preventative doses of folate and multivitamin supplements, in addition to other positive effects, allows to significantly reduce the incidence of autism in offspring," says Dr. Levin in his publication.

One of the authors disclosed financial ties with the pharmaceutical industry.

medbe. en.