Friday Oct 3, 2014 (foodconsumer.org) -- A new study suggests that pregnant women need to take prenatal multivitamin with iron to reduce the risk of having an autistic child.

The study links the risk of autism in children to the iron deficiency in their mothers during pregnancy.

Researchers say that iron deficiency is common affecting 40%-50% of pregnancies, and iron is important for early neurodevelopmental processes that are dys-regulated in the disease called autism spectrum disorder. 

For the study, mothers having children with autism enrolled in a population-based case-control study from 2003 to 2009 were compared with controls who did not have autistic children.  Mothers of cases were found to be "37% less likely to report taking iron-specific supplements during the index period.

Also mothers of children with autism only had intake of 36.6 mg of iron per day of iron, compared with controls having 57.1 mg per day.

Addition, the highest quintile of iron intake during the index period was correlated with 51% reduced autism risk, compared with the lowest particularly during the breastfeeding period.

Old pregnant women have special need for iron intake as they are five times as likely to have a child with autism if they have a low iron intake.  (David Liu, PHD)

Schmidt RJ, Tancredi DJ, Krakowiak P, Hansen RL, Ozonoff S.  Maternal Intake of Supplemental Iron and Risk of Autism Spectrum Disorder.  Am J Epidemiol. 2014 Sep 22.