The increase in cases of autism in the last decade is something that researchers try to explain, environmental factors are becoming increasingly relevant as a cause of this condition that largely remains a mystery.
A new investigation has established a relationship between the increase in autism cases with the arrival of cable television to American homes.
The study conducted in California, Pennsylvania, Washington and Oregon states that as of 1980 when cable television and children's channels such as Nickelodeon arrived at homes, autism rates increased in these counties in families that had cable. Specifically, Cornell's study determined that approximately 17% of the increase in autism cases in California and Pennsylavania during the 1970s and 1980s was due to the increase in homes with cable television. The study measured the amount of time the children were in front of the TV on rainy and snowy days in the western states (in bad weather the children spent more hours in front of the TV). The researchers concluded that "slightly less than 40% of autism diagnoses in the three states studied, autism is the result of exposure to television." “Although it is possible that these figures reflect a relationship between autism and staying indoors (not watching TV), these figures are much more conclusive than the numerous studies that seek to establish a link between autism and vaccines.
The investigation concludes that it is possible that exposure to television is the cause of the increase in cases of autism taking into account that the ability to process visual data develops in the first three years of life, children with autism have an abnormal activity In these areas of the brain, television would have something to do with this.
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