Bigger Baby at Birth? Probably Do Better in School, Too, New Study Says
My son weighed one ounce less than nine pounds when he was born, a week early. The doctors took him at 39 weeks because they were afraid he'd be 10 or 11 pounds if he went full-term. Now a new study is saying that a higher birth weight can mean better performance in school. It's really a no-brainer, in the end. It’s no secret that low-birth-weight babies face significantly greater risks for certain health problems early on, such as respiratory distress or infection. Now, a new study from researchers at the University of Florida (UF) and Northwestern University shows that lower weights at birth also have an adverse effect on children’s performance in school, which is likely due to the early health struggles small babies often face. Studying birth and school records of almost 2 million children in Florida from 1992 to 2002, researchers found the higher the weight at birth, the better children performed on reading and math tests in school. I'm bragging, I admit,...