New Delhi: Scientists have found an unusual correlation between a baby’s size at birth and how well they perform in school during their teens — babies who are smaller at birth perform worse than others, especially in mathematics and reading.
The study, published in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, was led by researchers at the University of Warwick and the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.
They followed 92,551 babies from birth to their adolescence, to understand how birth size and the timing of the delivery affect a child’s development and academic performance. Along with the children’s weight and size, researchers also analysed results from national school tests in maths, reading, and English, taken at the ages of 10-11, 13-14, and 14-15.
It is important to note that the findings suggest a correlation and not a causation. The results do not try and predict that every small baby will struggle academically. In fact, the researchers highlight that a child’s development is also significantly influenced by the environment in their homes and by the academic support they have in their early years.
“For babies born at term, being small for their stage of pregnancy may indicate adverse effects on the brain that affect learning and last into adolescence. However, the long-term effects of being born small may be altered by parenting home stimulation and school support for term born children,” Dieter Wolke, professor of Developmental Psychology and Individual Differences at the University of Warwick, said in a statement.
Also read: Salt water, not steroids, may hold the key to lasting relief from carpal tunnel syndrome
Patterns not causes
Researchers observed two patterns: The first was that children who were born smaller than expected performed poorer in some school subjects. The second was that children born a few weeks before the due date had slightly poorer language and movement skills in their early childhood compared to those born closer to the due date. However, the differences in the second case resolved themselves by the time children started school.
“What surprised us was the contrast between the two patterns: differences linked to being born slightly earlier within the term period largely washed out by age five, while those linked to being smaller than expected were still apparent in school performance at 14–15 years of age,” co-author Xuan Zhao, from the University of Warwick’s Department of Psychology, said in a statement.