Abstract
ABSTRACTBackgroundThe correlates of prenatal and postnatal growth on Intelligence Quotient (IQ) in childhood in term-born children living in high-income countries are not well known.ObjectivesWe examined how birth size and growth in infancy and childhood were associated with IQ at age 5 y in term-born children using path analysis.MethodsThe study sample comprised 1719 children from the Danish National Birth Cohort who participated in a substudy in which psychologists assessed IQ using the Wechsler Primary and Preschool Scales of Intelligence–Revised. Measured weight, length/height, and head circumference at birth, 5 mo, 12 mo, and 5 y were included in a path model to estimate their total, indirect, and direct effects on IQ. All growth measures were included in the model as sex- and age-standardized z-scores.ResultsAfter adjusting for potential confounders, a positive association between birth weight and IQ was observed, and 88% of the association was direct. Weight gain in infancy was associated with IQ [per z-score increase from 5 to 12 mo, IQ increased by 1.53 (95% CI: 0.14; 2.92) points] whereas weight gain from 12 mo to 5 y was not associated with IQ. Height and head circumference growth in childhood was associated with IQ [per z-score increase from 12 mo to 5 y, IQ increased by 0.98 (95% CI: 0.17; 1.79) and 2.09 (95% CI: 0.78; 3.41) points, respectively].ConclusionsIn children born at term in an affluent country with free access to health care, higher IQ was seen with greater size at birth and greater weight gain in infancy. Also, greater growth in height and head circumference throughout the first 5 y of life was associated with higher childhood IQ whereas greater weight gain after the first year of life was not.
Highlights
Nutrition is needed for growth including development of the brain [1], and studies have reported an association between growth of the fetus, indicated by birth size, and cognitive abilities in childhood [2], young adulthood, and in midlife [3, 4]
Estimates were only slightly attenuated when going from model A to model B, which was further adjusted for other growth measures
In children born at term in a high-income country, we observed that both prenatal and postnatal growth were associated with positive increments in childhood Intelligence Quotient (IQ)
Summary
Nutrition is needed for growth including development of the brain [1], and studies have reported an association between growth of the fetus, indicated by birth size, and cognitive abilities in childhood [2], young adulthood, and in midlife [3, 4]. Objectives: We examined how birth size and growth in infancy and childhood were associated with IQ at age 5 y in term-born children using path analysis. Height and head circumference growth in childhood was associated with IQ [per z-score increase from 12 mo to 5 y, IQ increased by 0.98 (95% CI: 0.17; 1.79) and 2.09 (95% CI: 0.78; 3.41) points, respectively]. Conclusions: In children born at term in an affluent country with free access to health care, higher IQ was seen with greater size at birth and greater weight gain in infancy. Greater growth in height and head circumference throughout the first 5 y of life was associated with higher childhood IQ whereas greater weight gain after the first year of life was not.
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