A mother's weight before pregnancy could be linked to autism-like behaviors in her children.

This is the conclusion of a study by researchers at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, who found that obesity can trigger metabolic shifts that cause lasting epigenetic changes in a mother's eggs.

These changes are passed on to the developing embryo and affect genes involved in brain development, including "Homer1," a protein important for regulating synaptic signaling, learning, memory and response to neural activity.

Obesity and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) rates are increasing worldwide (though for autism this could be because of increased awareness).

More than 2 in 5 adults (42.4 percent) are diagnosed as obese in the U.S., while 1 in 31 children and 1 in 45 adults are living with ASD

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