Autism spectrum disorder risk factors and autistic traits in gender dysphoric children.

Kocher et al. (2015) looked at 49 gender-dysphoric children.

They asked: does birth weight link to autistic traits in these kids?

Doctors weighed the babies at birth and later gave parents autism-trait checklists.

Babies who were born heavy scored higher on autistic traits later.

The same heavy-birth-weight pattern showed up for gender nonconformity too.

One early body signal may sit under both autism and gender-dysphoria features.

Li et al. (2016) pooled five studies and saw mom’s obesity raises autism odds 47%.

Chezan et al. (2019) and Smit et al. (2019) found the same link using mom’s BMI instead of baby weight.

McConkey et al. (2010) seems to disagree: they saw low birth weight, not high, tied to autism.

The gap is timing: R et al. looked at very low weight and sick babies, while P et al. studied heavy but healthy newborns.

Together the papers say both ends of the weight curve deserve watching.

When you see a child with gender dysphoria, ask about birth weight.

If the chart shows a high neonatal weight, plan extra autism screening and social-skills teaching.

The same tip works in reverse: heavy-birth-weight kids on your caseload may benefit from gender-identity support questions.

One quick chart review can guide your whole assessment path.