Male infants who grow slowly in the first year of life may wind up
making less money in middle age, according to a British study. The
researchers behind the study believe that slow growth in infancy may
hamper brain development.
By
Colin Allen, published on June 01, 2003
Male infants who grow slowly in the first year of life may wind up
making less money in middle age, according to a British study. The
researchers behind the study believe that slow growth in infancy may
hamper brain development.
In the first year of life, the brain has not yet finished
developing, notes study author David Barker, Ph.D. a researcher at the
University of Southampton in England. As a result, children who grow
slowly in the first year of life may not develop mental capabilities as
quickly as their faster-growing peers.
With help from the National Public Health Institute in Helsinki,
Finland and Southampton colleague Clive Osmond, Ph.D., Barker studied
4,630 men born in Helsinki between 1934 and 1944. Each subject's height
was tracked until the age of 12. The team matched up this information
with education, income and occupation data from the 1990 census.
Their findings: Men who were 28 inches or shorter at the end of
their first year of life earned an average of $25,000 in their 50s. Those
who were 31 inches or taller on their first birthday earned on average
more than $36,000 in their fifth decade. The connection seemed to hold
regardless of the baby's socioeconomic status at birth.
Barker points out that the growth period in the first year of life
is crucial for the liver as well: A parallel study with the same group of
subjects found shorter infants are also at greater risk for type 2
diabetes, possibly due to delayed liver development.
His findings will be discussed at the Second World Congress on
Fetal Origins of Adult Diseases in Brighton, England.
