“...90 something year old relatives are living so long, mostly in decent health, while younger ones have problems (mostly weight)....maybe the easy access to food, especially carbs (fast food, sweets, etc)... ...”
Hit the nail on the head here! Way way too much sugar consumption by everybody not just the poor! First thing to do to get a handle on this is end sugar subsidies!
Also there is something very important to remember about autism today. We have greatly expand the spectrum of behaviors that are not called autism. That’s one of the key reasons why there is this apparent dramatic increase in autism.
Yes....”dessert” used to be SPECIAL....like a few times a year, I think, altho in the 1950s it may have started growing (I scarfed up those orange slices from my great grandmother’s candy dish then)....now, people have dessert every morning (Starbucks or similar sugar laden drink)....and then more at night after dinner. And, yes, the autism spectrum has grown. True autistics really cannot function in our world, I thought.