Underweight babies more Susceptible to Depression
By editor | June 3, 2007
Underweight babies : There has been a significant increase in the number of underweight babies being born in the UK, a report from a think tank has concluded.
According to the study carried out by the Fabian Society, 2006 saw 78 out of every 1,000 babies born weighing less than 5lb 8oz.
This was significantly higher than the figure for 1989, when 67 babies out of every 1,000 were born seriously underweight.
Calling the findings “a scar on the national conscience”, the Fabian Society said that women at risk of giving birth to underweight babies should be given more attention in order to improve the chances of the low birth weight babies.
“The facts should shock us all. Britain has the worst rate of every country in western Europe, except Greece,” commented Louise Bamfield, who led the research.
“And being born very small creates health risks throughout life - and will affect the health of babies they will themselves have years later.”
Low birth weight has been linked with a range of long-term health problems, including diabetes and heart disease, as well as an increased risk of death or disability.
Girls who had been born underweight were more prone to depression at the age of 13 to 16 than those born at normal weight, a study said.
The average weight for a baby at birth is about 3.4 kg. The Duke University study found that girls who had been born weighing less than 2.5 kg were more prone to depression, reported online edition of the BBC News.
Previous research has linked low birth weight to an increased risk of attention deficit disorder, as well as physical conditions such as cardiovascular disease, and diabetes.
Elizabeth Jane Costello and other researchers at Duke University examined data on more than 1,400 children, aged nine to 16. They found that among girls, 5.7 percent were born weighing less than 2.5 kg, and of these 38 percent experienced depression at least once between 13 and 16 years.
This compared with 8.4 percent of those born at a normal weight. On average, 23.5 percent of teenage girls with a low birth weight were depressed each year, compared with 3.4 percent of those born at a normal weight.
Writing in the journal, the researchers said: “For the present, the findings suggest that pediatricians and parents of girls who were of low birth weight should pay close attention to their mental health as they enter puberty.”
The researchers, however, said further investigation was needed to pin down possible reasons of the depression.
Underweight Babies and Babies of Teen Mothers:
Babies with a birth rate of 4.4 pounds or lower and babies of teen mothers are twice as likely to die by suicide later in life than other babies, according to a study at the Karolinska Institute in Stochkholm, Sweden.
Children from large families or whose mothers had little education also had a raised risk of suicide.
Additional risk factors included: stress during pregnancy, poor maternal health, poor parenting, and low income.
Researchers studied 700,000 young adults in Sweden who were born between 1973 and 1980 and monitored them until 1999.
Out of the 700,000 individuals, 4,700 women and 2,000 men attempted suicide, and 166 women and 397 men died by suicide.
“Prevention needs to start before a child is born,” said Dr. Danuta Wasserman, one of the researchers. “We need to monitor and support young mothers during pregnancy and to follow-up their newborn children to help them with emotional and practical support when needed.”
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