Evidence map›Paper›PMID 24709932›Full record

ArticlePediatrics2014

Parental obesity and risk of autism spectrum disorder.

Pål Surén, Nina Gunnes, Christine Roth, Michaeline Bresnahan, Mady Hornig, Deborah Hirtz, Kari Kveim Lie, W Ian Lipkin, Per Magnus, Ted Reichborn-Kjennerud and 5 more

Open access · greenAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Pediatrics, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 65 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
65citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
8.3field-weighted citation impact, top 2% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

65 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 126 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Maternal pre-pregnancy obesity and child neurodevelopmental outcomes: a meta-analysis.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2018
    Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
  5. Article
  6. Review
  7. A Review of the Effects of Maternal and Paternal Obesity on Neurodevelopmental Disorders and Related Neurobiology in Rodent and Human Offspring.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2026
    Review
  8. Article
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  12. Intergenerational Effects of Stress - A Focus on Learning and Memory.Current topics in behavioral neurosciences · 2025
    Review
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5 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

15 authors at 8 institutions in 3 countries.

Pål SurénNorwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway; Centre for Paediatric Epidemiology and Biostatistics, UCL Institute of Child Health, London, United Kingdom; pal.suren@fhi.no.
Nina GunnesNorwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway; Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, New York;
Christine RothNorwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway; Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, New York;
Michaeline BresnahanMailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, New York; New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, New York;
Mady HornigMailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, New York;
Deborah HirtzNational Institute of Neurologic Disorders and Stroke, Bethesda, Maryland;
Kari Kveim LieNorwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway;
W Ian LipkinMailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, New York;
Per MagnusNorwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway;
Ted Reichborn-KjennerudNorwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway; Institute of Psychiatry, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway;
Synnve SchjølbergNorwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway;
Ezra SusserMailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, New York; New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, New York;
Anne-Siri OyenNorwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway; Nic Waals Institute, Lovisenberg Hospital, Oslo, Norway;
George Davey SmithMRC Centre for Causal Analysis in Translational Epidemiology, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom; and.
Camilla StoltenbergNorwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway; Department of Public Health and Primary Health Care, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
Norwegian Institute of Public Health · NOColumbia University · USLovisenberg Diakonale Sykehus · NONational Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke · USNew York Psychoanalytic Society and Institute · USRoyal College of Paediatrics and Child Health · GBUniversity of Bristol · GBUniversity of Oslo · NO

Funding

Gene-Environment Interactions in an Autism Birth CohortU01NS047537 · NINDS · COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · PI LIPKIN, W. IAN · 2003 to 2013
$27.0M
Medical Research Council MC_UU_12013/1NIEHS NIH HHS N01 ES075558NIEHS NIH HHS N0-ES-75558NINDS NIH HHS NS47537NINDS NIH HHS U01 NS047537
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesThe objective of the study was to investigate the associations among maternal prepregnancy BMI, paternal BMI, and the risk of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) in children.

methodsThe study sample of 92 909 children was derived from the population-based, prospective Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study. The age range was 4.0 through 13.1 (mean 7.4) years. Relative risks of ASDs were estimated by odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) from logistic regression models.

resultsAt the end of follow-up on December 31, 2012, 419 children in the study sample had been diagnosed with ASDs: 162 with autistic disorder, 103 with Asperger disorder, and 154 with pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified. Maternal obesity (BMI ≥30) was only weakly associated with ASD risk, whereas paternal obesity was associated with an increased risk of autistic disorder and Asperger disorder. The risk of autistic disorder was 0.27% (25 of 9267) in children of obese fathers and 0.14% (59 of 41 603) in children of fathers with normal weight (BMI <25), generating an adjusted OR of 1.73 (95% CI: 1.07-2.82). For Asperger disorder, analyses were limited to children aged ≥7 years (n = 50 116). The risk was 0.38% (18 of 4761) in children of obese fathers and 0.18% (42 of 22 736) in children of normal-weight fathers, and the adjusted OR was 2.01 (95% CI: 1.13-3.57). No associations were found for pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified.

conclusionsPaternal obesity is an independent risk factor for ASDs in children. The associations should be investigated further in genetic and epigenetic studies.

Indexed as

Body Mass IndexFathersMothersPreconception CareAdolescentAsperger SyndromeChildChild Development Disorders, PervasiveChild, PreschoolCohort StudiesFemaleHealth SurveysHumansMaleNorwayObesityAsperger disorderautism spectrum disorderautistic disorderchild cohort studyparental BMIparental obesityPDD-NOS

Identifiers

PMID24709932
PMCPMC4006442
OpenAlexW2097658213

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.