Birth weight and cognitive function in the British 1946 birth cohort: longitudinal population based study

doi:10.1136/bmj.322.7280.199

BMJ 2001;322:199-203 ( 27 January )

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Birth weight and cognitive function in the British 1946 birth cohort: longitudinal population based study

Marcus Richards, MRC scientist, Rebecca Hardy, MRC scientist, Diana Kuh, MRC senior scientist, Michael E J Wadsworth, director.

MRC National Survey of Health and Development, University College London, London WC1E 6BT

Correspondence to: M Richards, MRC National Survey of Health and Development, University College London, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, London WC1E 6BT m.richards{at}ucl.ac.uk

Objective: To examine the association between birth weightand cognitive function in the normalpopulation.
Design: A longitudinal, population based, birth cohortstudy.
Participants: 3900 males and females born in1946.
Main outcome measures: Cognitive function from childhood to middlelife (measured at ages 8, 11, 15, 26, and 43years).
Results: Birth weight was significantly and positivelyassociated with cognitive ability at age 8 (with an estimatedstandard deviation score of 0.44 (95% confidence interval 0.28to 0.59)) between the lowest and highest birthweight categoriesafter sex, father's social class, mother's education, and birthorder were controlled for. This association was evident acrossthe normal birthweight range (>2.5 kg) and so was not accountedfor exclusively by low birth weight. The association was alsoobserved at ages 11, 15, and 26, and weakly at age 43, althoughthese associations were dependent on the association at age 8.Birth weight was also associated with education, with those ofhigher birth weight more likely to have achieved higher qualifications,and this effect was accounted for partly by cognitive functionat age8.
Conclusions: Birth weight was associated with cognitiveability at age 8 in the general population, and in the normalbirthweight range. The effect at this age largely explains associationsbetween birth weight and cognitive function at subsequent ages.Similarly, the association between birth weight and educationwas accounted for partly by earlier cognitivescores.

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lead: Wendy McLean
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Real or statistical fact?: Piotr Jurkowski
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