As parents and researchers struggle and debate about the cause of the autism epidemic -- or if there's even an epidemic at all -- a new study suggests a link between the disorder and parents' ages.

A study published Feb. 8 in the journal Autism Research concludes that older mothers are more likely than younger ones to have a child with autism. In addition, older fathers significantly contribute to the risk of autism when their partners are under 30.

The New York Times reports researchers analyzed almost five million births in California during the 1990s. Some 12,159 of those children were diagnosed with autism.

According to the Times, previous research concluded that autism diagnoses grew with the age of the father. In this latest study, researchers found when the father was older than 40 and the mother was younger than 30, the autism rate was 59 percent higher than it was for younger men. When the mothers were over 30, that number was about 12 percent.

A hospital in Canada offers some obese children surgery designed to help them lose weight and reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease and other potential killers.

The surgery is performed at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. The hospital -- nicknamed SickKids -- is Canada's largest research hospital and one of the largest pediatric academic health science centers in the world.

The Canadian newspaper the Globe and Mail reports physicians at the hospital are the first in Canada to routinely provide obesity surgery to children. The program officially launches this week.

According to the Globe and Mail, it is designed for children ages 12 to 17 with "complex obesity." That means they are overweight because of a medical condition such as a brain tumor.

A 7-year-old Brazilian girl has won the coveted title of drum corps queen of a top samba school for the annual Carnaval of Brazil.

And, now, children's rights activists are outraged. The girl's father, however, sees nothing wrong with people watching his daughter dance in one of the scanty, sequined costumes associated with samba music and Carnaval.

"Any man who looks at a 7-year-old child and feels any sort of excitement should go see a doctor," Marco Lira tells the BBC, Britain's national television network.

Lira is the president of the Viradouro Samba School that chose his daughter, Julia, as its Carnaval queen.

The government may have your baby's DNA on file.

Newborns in the United States are regularly screened for various genetic diseases. These tests are mandated by the federal government.

As a result, children's DNA samples are often stored -- sometimes indefinitely.

Some parents are creeped out by the Orwellian image of the government keeping babies' DNA without their parents' knowledge or consent and they're filing lawsuits. Members of the Texas Legislature felt the same chill down their spines last year.

Angel Montiel was reunited with his parents after they enrolled in parenting classes and agreed to drug testing and other services.

Now his mother is spending 15 years in prison. She pleaded no contest to beating the toddler to death.

Angel is one reason the Department of Children and Family Services in Los Angles County is readjusting its thinking.

The overarching goal of many state and county agencies designed to protect children is to reunite and preserve troubled families.

Not in Los Angeles County. Not anymore.