Birth weight, childhood socioeconomic environment, and cognitive development in the 1958 British birth cohort study

doi:10.1136/bmj.325.7359.305

BMJ 2002;325:305 ( 10 August )

Papers

Birth weight, childhood socioeconomic environment, and cognitive development in the 1958 British birth cohort study

Barbara J M H Jefferis, research fellow, ^a Chris Power, professor, ^a Clyde Hertzman, professor. ^b

^a Institute of Child Health, Centre for Paediatric Epidemiology and Biostatistics, London WC1N 1EH, ^b Department of Health Care and Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T 1Z3

Correspondence to: C Power C.Power{at}ich.ucl.ac.uk

Objectives: To examine the combined effect of social classand weight at birth on cognitive trajectories during school ageand the associations between birth weight and educational outcomesthrough to 33years.
Design: Longitudinal, population based, birth cohortstudy.
Participants: 10 845 males and females born during 3-9 March1958 with information on birth weight, social class, and cognitivetests.
Main outcome measures: Reading, maths, draw a man, copying designs,verbal and non-verbal ability tests at ages 7, 11, and 16, highestqualifications achieved by 33, and trajectories of maths standardisedscores at 7-16years.
Results: The outcome of all childhood cognitive testsand educational achievements improved significantly with increasingbirth weight. Analysis of maths scores at 7 and of highest qualificationsachieved by 33 showed that the relations were robust to adjustmentfor potential confounding factors. For each kilogram increasein birth weight, maths z score increased by 0.17 (adjusted estimate0.15, 95% confidence interval 0.10 to 0.21) for males and 0.21(0.20, 0.14 to 0.25) for females. Trajectories of maths z scoresbetween 7 and 16 years diverged for different social class groups:participants from classes I and II increased their relative positionon the score with increasing age, whereas classes IV and V showeda relative decline with increasing age. Birth weight explainedmuch less of the variation in cognition than did social class(range 0.5-1.5% v 2.9-12.5%).
Conclusions: The postnatal environment has an overwhelminginfluence on cognitive function through to early adulthood, butthese strong effects do not explain the weaker but independentassociation with birthweight.

What is already known on this topic
Weight at birth is associated with later cognitive development

This is maintained across the range of normal birth weights

What this study adds
Social class at birth and birth weight have independent effects on maths scores in childhood, but social class at birth explains more of the variation in the scores

The relation between maths scores and birth weight persists across birth weights after adjustment for gestational age, parental education, and other potential confounding factors

Trajectories of maths attainment diverge, with more affluent social groups increasing their relative advantage whereas the effect of birth weight remains constant over time

© BMJ 2002

CiteULike

Complore

Connotea

Del.icio.us Add to Digg

Digg

Technorati What's this?

Relevant Articles

Physical control and coordination in childhood and adult obesity: longitudinal birth cohort study: Walter Osika and Scott M Montgomery
BMJ 2008 337: a699. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Academic achievement of twins and singletons in early adulthood: Taiwanese cohort study: Meng-Ting Tsou, Meng-Wen Tsou, Ming-Ping Wu, and Jin-Tan Liu
BMJ 2008 337: a438. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Does amblyopia affect educational, health, and social outcomes? Findings from 1958 British birth cohort: J S Rahi, P M Cumberland, and C S Peckham
BMJ 2006 332: 820-825. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Cognitive function is linked to social background
BMJ 2002 325: 0. [Full Text]

This article has been cited by other articles:

Modin, B., Fritzell, J. (2009). The long arm of the family: are parental and grandparental earnings related to young men's body mass index and cognitive ability?. Int J Epidemiol 38: 733-744 [Abstract] [Full text]
Weisglas-Kuperus, N, Hille, E T M, Duivenvoorden, H J, Finken, M J J, Wit, J M, van Buuren, S, van Goudoever, J B, Verloove-Vanhorick, S P, for the Dutch POPS-19 Collaborative Study Group, (2009). Intelligence of very preterm or very low birthweight infants in young adulthood. Arch. Dis. Child. Fetal Neonatal Ed. 94: F196-F200 [Abstract] [Full text]
Osika, W., Montgomery, S. M (2008). Physical control and coordination in childhood and adult obesity: longitudinal birth cohort study. BMJ 337: a699-a699 [Abstract] [Full text]
Tsou, M.-T., Tsou, M.-W., Wu, M.-P., Liu, J.-T. (2008). Academic achievement of twins and singletons in early adulthood: Taiwanese cohort study. BMJ 337: a438-a438 [Abstract] [Full text]
Malacova, E., Li, J., Blair, E., Leonard, H., de Klerk, N., Stanley, F. (2008). Association of Birth Outcomes and Maternal, School, and Neighborhood Characteristics with Subsequent Numeracy Achievement. Am J Epidemiol 168: 21-29 [Abstract] [Full text]
Jefferis, B J M H, Manor, O, Power, C (2008). Cognitive development in childhood and drinking behaviour over two decades in adulthood. J. Epidemiol. Community Health 62: 506-512 [Abstract] [Full text]
Heinonen, K., Raikkonen, K., Pesonen, A.-K., Kajantie, E., Andersson, S., Eriksson, J. G., Niemela, A., Vartia, T., Peltola, J., Lano, A. (2008). Prenatal and Postnatal Growth and Cognitive Abilities at 56 Months of Age: A Longitudinal Study of Infants Born at Term. Pediatrics 121: e1325-e1333 [Abstract] [Full text]
Keltikangas-Jarvinen, L., Elovainio, M., Kivimaki, M., Raitakari, O. T., Viikari, J. S.A., Lehtimaki, T. (2007). Dopamine Receptor D2 Gene Taq1A (C32806T) Polymorphism Modifies the Relationship Between Birth Weight and Educational Attainment in Adulthood: 21-Year Follow-up of the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study. Pediatrics 120: 756-761 [Abstract] [Full text]
Shulruf, B., Morton, S., Goodyear-Smith, F., O'Loughlin, C., Dixon, R. (2007). Designing Multidisciplinary Longitudinal Studies of Human Development: Analyzing Past Research to Inform Methodology. Eval Health Prof 30: 207-228 [Abstract]
Rahi, J S, Cumberland, P M, Peckham, C S (2006). Does amblyopia affect educational, health, and social outcomes? Findings from 1958 British birth cohort. BMJ 332: 820-825 [Abstract] [Full text]
Alderman, H., Behrman, J. R. (2006). Reducing the Incidence of Low Birth Weight in Low-Income Countries Has Substantial Economic Benefits. WORLD BANK RES OBS 21: 25-48 [Abstract] [Full text]
Bergvall, N., Iliadou, A., Tuvemo, T., Cnattingius, S. (2006). Birth Characteristics and Risk of Low Intellectual Performance in Early Adulthood: Are the Associations Confounded by Socioeconomic Factors in Adolescence or Familial Effects?. Pediatrics 117: 714-721 [Abstract] [Full text]
Power, C., Elliott, J. (2006). Cohort profile: 1958 British birth cohort (National Child Development Study). Int J Epidemiol 35: 34-41 [Full text]
Lawlor, D. A, Batty, G D., Morton, S. M B, Deary, I. J, Macintyre, S., Ronalds, G., Leon, D. A (2005). Early life predictors of childhood intelligence: evidence from the Aberdeen children of the 1950s study. J. Epidemiol. Community Health 59: 656-663 [Abstract] [Full text]
Pearce, M. S, Deary, I. J, Young, A. H, Parker, L. (2005). Growth in early life and childhood IQ at age 11 years: the Newcastle Thousand Families Study. Int J Epidemiol 34: 673-677 [Abstract] [Full text]
Lawlor, D. A, Bor, W., O'Callaghan, M. J, Williams, G. M, Najman, J. M (2005). Intrauterine growth and intelligence within sibling pairs: findings from the Mater-University study of pregnancy and its outcomes. J. Epidemiol. Community Health 59: 279-282 [Abstract] [Full text]
Wood, N S, Costeloe, K, Gibson, A T, Hennessy, E M, Marlow, N, Wilkinson, A R, for the EPICure Study Group, (2005). The EPICure study: associations and antecedents of neurological and developmental disability at 30 months of age following extremely preterm birth. Arch. Dis. Child. Fetal Neonatal Ed. 90: F134-F140 [Abstract] [Full text]
Cumberland, P, Rahi, J S, Peckham, C S (2004). Impact of congenital colour vision deficiency on education and unintentional injuries: findings from the 1958 British birth cohort. BMJ 329: 1074-1075 [Full text]
Kristensen, P., Bjerkedal, T., Irgens, L. M (2004). Birthweight and work participation in adulthood. Int J Epidemiol 33: 849-856 [Abstract] [Full text]
Gale, C. R., O'Callaghan, F. J., Godfrey, K. M., Law, C. M., Martyn, C. N. (2004). Critical periods of brain growth and cognitive function in children. Brain 127: 321-329 [Abstract] [Full text]
Osler, M, Andersen, A-M N, Due, P, Lund, R, Damsgaard, M T, Holstein, B E (2003). Socioeconomic position in early life, birth weight, childhood cognitive function, and adult mortality. A longitudinal study of Danish men born in 1953. J. Epidemiol. Community Health 57: 681-686 [Abstract] [Full text]

Rapid Responses:

Read all Rapid Responses

Correlations and Causes: Fraank J Leavitt
bmj.com, 10 Aug 2002 [Full text]
Unfortunately we are not born equal.: Russell Keenan
bmj.com, 12 Aug 2002 [Full text]
Brain function may be determined by adverse environments in utero: Simon C Langley-Evans
bmj.com, 16 Aug 2002 [Full text]