Dataset Information

Associations of birth size, infancy, and childhood growth with intelligence quotient at 5 years of age: a Danish cohort study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The 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.

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.

Methods

The 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.

Results

After 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].

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. 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.

SUBMITTER: Kirkegaard H

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7326594 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Associations of birth size, infancy, and childhood growth with intelligence quotient at 5 years of age: a Danish cohort study.

Kirkegaard Helene H Möller Sören S Wu Chunsen C Häggström Jonas J Olsen Sjurdur Frodi SF Olsen Jørn J Nohr Ellen Aagaard EA

The American journal of clinical nutrition 20200701 1

<h4>Background</h4>The 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.<h4>Objectives</h4>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.<h4>Methods</h4>The study sample comprised 1719 children from the Danish National Birth Cohort who participated in a substudy in which psychologists assessed ...[more]

PMID: 32232408

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Project description:BackgroundThe relationship between maternal obesity and childhood cognitive development remains unclear. Prior studies did not adjust for important confounders, and preterm infants are a developmentally distinct group that remains scarcely examined.ObjectivesTo determine whether maternal prepregnancy body mass index (BMI) is associated with offspring intelligence quotient (IQ) up to 5 years and whether this relationship varies with gestational age.MethodsData from two French birth cohorts, EDEN (all gestational ages) and EPIPAGE-2 (preterm children born between 24 and 34 weeks of gestation), were used for this study. Maternal prepregnancy weight and height were used to calculate prepregnancy BMI. The Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence was used to assess child IQ around 5 years. Multivariable models were adjusted for confounders, including socioeconomic status and paternal BMI.ResultsAnalytical cohorts included 1100 children from EDEN and 2629 from EPIPAGE-2. Lower intellectual functioning (full-scale IQ < 85) was observed in 8.1% of children in EDEN and 19.6% in EPIPAGE-2. The prevalence of maternal obesity was 13.6% (EDEN) and 21.3% (EPIPAGE-2) among children with lower intellectual functioning compared to 8.9% (EDEN) and 12.9% (EPIPAGE-2) among children with normal intellectual functioning. Maternal prepregnancy obesity was associated with an approximately 3-point decrease in full-scale IQ scores in fully adjusted models (adjusted β -2.8, 95% confidence interval [CI] -5.6, -0.1 and -2.6, 95% CI -4.7, -0.6 in EDEN and EPIPAGE-2, respectively). In EDEN, maternal obesity was associated with lower scores in the verbal IQ domain. Among infants born preterm (EPIPAGE-2), maternal obesity was associated with lower scores in the processing, reasoning, and verbal IQ domains. Adjustment for paternal BMI did not change the magnitude of the relationship with maternal obesity.ConclusionsHigh maternal prepregnancy BMI is associated with child cognitive development around 5 years of age.

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Dataset Information

Associations of birth size, infancy, and childhood growth with intelligence quotient at 5 years of age: a Danish cohort study.

Background

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Associations of birth size, infancy, and childhood growth with intelligence quotient at 5 years of age: a Danish cohort study.

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