An article appeared recently in TIME magazine about a study which linked the massive rise in autism amongst children in the US to the amount of time that children are spending in front of their television sets.
In 1970 it was thought that around 1 in 2,500 children suffered from some form of autism. Over the last 36 years this has risen to 1 in 170.
The study carried out by Cornell University is based on the number of autism cases, cable TV subscriptions and rainfall patterns. In view of the very basic level of data involved, the conclusions of the report are put in surprisingly definitive terms.
"Approximately 17% of the growth in autism in California and Pennsylvania during the 1970s and 1980s was due to the growth of cable television," and "just under 40% of autism diagnoses in the three states studied is the result of television watching due to precipitation."
This is akin to linking the rise in the number of sushi restaurants to an increase in terrorist attacks and global warming. The fact that three sets of statistics bear similarities should not lead anyone to believe that there is any definitive correlation between them.
The rise in autism is undeniable and the conclusions of the study may be correct but a great deal of further research is required before any conclusions can be put in such authoritative terms.
