Birth weight is one of several parameters considered by researchers and healthcare experts when analyzing a child’s health and potential risk factors for a variety of disorders, including psychological ones. While birth weight is not a perfect predictor of psychiatric problems, it can be used as part of a larger assessment.
According to new research from RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, newborns with higher birth weights had fewer mental health and behavioral disorders throughout childhood and adolescence. These findings may aid in identifying and supporting youngsters who are at a higher risk of developing psychiatric issues.
The study, published in the journal European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, looked at birth weights and later mental health in thousands of Irish youngsters. Unlike many birth weight studies, it used data from the Growing Up in Ireland research, an ongoing government-funded study of children born between 1997 and 1998, to follow the same children throughout their infancy and adolescence.
We have known for many years that low birth weight and premature birth is linked with higher risk of mental illness in the child. What this study shows is that even small deviations from the typical birth weight might also be relevant.
Professor Mary Cannon
The study found that every kilogram under the usual birth weight (3.5kg, or 7lbs 11oz) was connected with higher reported mental health problems during childhood and adolescence. The study also discovered that these birth-weight-related issues tend to continue throughout childhood, from the ages of 9 to 17. The most closely connected concerns with birth weight were inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity, all of which are symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
Each kilogram below the usual birth weight was associated with a 2% increase in the chance of ADHD-like behaviors, but such behaviors were within the normal range. That is, even among children with extremely low birth weights (1.5kg), the average number of ADHD symptoms would most likely fall short of the criterion for an ADHD diagnosis.
Lower birth weight was also associated to mental and social issues, especially in late adolescence. These issues were discovered to be more severe and closer to clinical thresholds, such as those for diagnosing depression or anxiety.
Professor Mary Cannon, Professor of Psychiatric Epidemiology and Youth Mental Health at RSCI and Principal Investigator on the study, said: “We have known for many years that low birth weight and premature birth is linked with higher risk of mental illness in the child. What this study shows is that even small deviations from the typical birth weight might also be relevant.”
Niamh Dooley, PhD student and research main author, stated. “This relationship persists even after accounting for factors that could influence both birth weight and mental health, such as gender, socioeconomic factors, and parental history of mental illness.” The effect of birth weight on subsequent mental health is likely to be minor, but it may combine with other hazards such as heredity and childhood stress, and this may have consequences for understanding the origins of mental health and ill-health.”
This study emphasizes the importance of adequate perinatal care and implies that increasing women’s overall health throughout pregnancy to ensure optimal birth weight may help lower the likelihood of their children having mental health disorders. Children with low birth weight may benefit from psychological examinations in childhood, as well as early intervention for mental health symptoms if they are discovered, in order to reduce the burden of mental illness later in adolescence and adulthood.
The group’s latest findings have just been published in the journal Research on Child and Adolescent Psychopathology. It suggests that maternal substance use during pregnancy (smoking, alcohol usage, non-prescription medication use) can explain a considerable portion of the connection between birth weight and ADHD symptoms in Irish children.
