Autism Rate Among N.J. Children Rises To New High Of 1 In 41

The rate among children diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder in New Jersey has increased to 1 in 41, according to new information from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

New Jersey's rate, the highest in America, is up 12 percent from the previously released rate of 1 in 45 children in 2014.

At least 2.5 percent of New Jersey residents 21 and younger have been diagnosed with autism, the CDC estimates.

The most recent rate is nearly double that of 1 in 101 in 2000, the New Jersey Autism Study shows. Researchers at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, in cooperation with the CDC, established the study. They looked at four counties: Essex, Hudson, Union, and Ocean, and looked at people born every two years from 1992 to 2002.

The 2 percent autism prevalence rate among children born in those years confirms that “more families than ever before are affected and that Autism Spectrum Disorder is an important public health problem," according to the NJAS.

Over that 10-year period, autism prevalence in the New Jersey metropolitan region has increased 120 percent, according to the study.

The national rate remains the same as it was in 2014: 1 in 68 children are diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder.

Nationally, the autism rate is four and a half times higher in boys than in girls, according to the CDC: 1 in 42 boys and 1 in 189 girls were diagnosed with autism. Most of the children were not diagnosed until they were at least 3 years 11 months old, the data shows.