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High autism rates have been found in Somali imigrants living in Sweden and in Minnesota.  What does Sweden have in common with Minnesota, besides wolves and snow?  They are both at high lattitudes and get low sunlight, especially in the winter.  Swedish researchers have proposed that vitamin D deficiency may play a role in the high incidence of autism found among Somali immigrant children.  Vitamin D is made in the skin from sunlight. 

Herndon et al report that children with Autism Spectrum Disorder consume significantly fewer servings of dairy products than children without ASD, although both children with ASD and those without were deficient in vitamin D.  Dairy products in the United States are supplemented with vitamin D. 

Several medical-cultural trends may have combined to produce vitamin D deficiency in pregnant women, infants, and children, possibly predisposing children to autism: widespread use of sunscreen and avoiding outdoor exposure during peak hours, and reduced consumption of fatty cold-water fish by pregnant women, due to fears of mercury contamination.