According to a nationwide survey conducted in 2022 by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), one in 31 children studied had been diagnosed with autism—a significant increase from the one-in-every-36 reported in 2020, and an even larger increase from the one-in-every-150 in 2000.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, is spearheading the efforts in identifying the root causes of the childhood chronic disease epidemic, which includes the increase in autism among kids.

Leland Vittert, anchor of NewsNation's prime-time "On Balance," weighed in on the recent study on "Seattle's Morning News."