The other day Jennifer wrote about engineering autism, including, “even environmental factors such as television watching could play a role in child developing autism.” A new research study finds a relationship.

Cornell scientists compared data sets including demographics, climate, TV viewing. They linked more rainfall to increased television viewing, and:

Michael Waldman, a professor of economics at Cornell’s Johnson Graduate School of Management and a co-author of the research paper, said, “The analysis shows that early childhood television viewing could be an environmental trigger for the onset of autism and strongly points to the need for more research by experts in the field of autism.”

Thirty years ago, it was estimated that roughly one in 2,500 children had autism, while today some estimate that number to have increased more than tenfold, to as high as one in 166. At the same time, television viewing has increased dramatically due to easy access to cable and satellite television, more traditional broadcast offerings and the market penetration of VCRs and DVDs.

…current school-aged children who live in California, Oregon, and Washington counties that received large amounts of rain and snow when the children were young are more likely to be diagnosed with autism. Furthermore, children who grew up in California and Pennsylvania counties during the 1970s and 80s with high cable subscription rates were also more likely to be diagnosed with autism. These analyses control for differences between counties in income, population, and demographic mix – other factors that may influence the autism rate – and also examine changes in county autism rates over time as well as differences at a point in time.

“Our analysis is not definitive, but it certainly raises questions that seem to have gone unasked in autism research to date,” added Sean Nicholson, an associate professor of policy analysis and management in Cornell’s College of Human Ecology. “The medical community is increasingly convinced that something is happening in the environment that triggers an underlying biological or genetic predisposition toward autism, and these findings strongly support the need for taking a closer look at early childhood television viewing.”

They don’t, unfortunately, suggest how television would have this effect or analyze programming.

Read more
Full research report (pdf)
Via The Neurophilosopher.

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    Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 25 Oct 2006
    Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.