This review highlights how maternal diet influences autism spectrum disorder risk during pregnancy, indicating the value of targeted nutritional interventions.
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition originating in early life, presenting significant challenges for affected families and society. ASD is characterized by atypical brain development occurring throughout gestation. Maternal diet during pregnancy plays a crucial role in ASD pathogenesis. Specifically, prenatal multivitamin supplementation and adequate vitamin D intake may reduce ASD risk; similar protective effects have been associated with polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) and iron consumption. Although research findings are inconsistent, prenatal nutritional interventions represent a promising strategy for mitigating the future risk of mental health and other disorders in offspring. Therefore, this article reviews key nutrients implicated in ASD risk during pregnancy, to provide a theoretical foundation for developing precise perinatal nutritional intervention plans.
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Zhao et al. (2025) studied this question.
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