Childhood head growth and educational attainment in an Indian Cohort
Childhood head growth and educational attainment in an Indian Cohort
BACKGROUND: There is minimal information about the association of head growth at different stages of childhood with cognitive ability.
OBJECTIVE: To determine the relationship of newborn head size and head growth during infancy, childhood and adolescence with attained education, a proxy for cognitive ability.
STUDY DESIGN: Prospective birth cohort study.
SETTING: Married women living in South Delhi between 1969 and 1973.
PARTICIPANTS: The New Delhi Birth Cohort study followed up 8030 newborns born in 1969-1973 with head circumference, weight and height measurements at birth and 6-12 monthly until adulthood. Of these, 1526 men and women were followed up at the age of 26-32 years.
OUTCOMES: Association between years of schooling, as an indicator of cognitive ability, and newborn head circumference and conditional measures of head growth during infancy, childhood and adolescence.
RESULTS: In unadjusted analyses, newborn head size was positively associated with years of education [(b (95% CI)=0.30 (0.14 to 0.47) years per SD head circumference], as was head growth from birth to 6 months [b (95% CI)=0.44 (0.28 to 0.60) years per SD conditional head growth], 6 months to 2 years [b (95% CI)=0.31 (0.15 to 0.47) years per SD conditional head growth] and 2 to 11 years [b (95% CI)=0.20 (0.03 to 0.36) years per SD conditional head growth]. There were similar findings for height and body mass index (BMI). In the adjusted model containing all growth measures, gestational age, and socio-economic status (SES) at birth as predictors, only SES was positively associated with educational attainment.
CONCLUSION: Educational attainment in this population is positively associated with socioeconomic status and its influence on inter-related early life (fetal, infant and childhood) factors like nutritional status and brain growth.
Adolescent, Adult, Birth Weight, Body Height, Body Mass Index, Cohort Studies, Educational Status, Female, Humans, Infant, Infant, Newborn, Male, Middle Aged, Prospective Studies
13-20
Pandey, S.
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Devasenpathy, N.
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Sinha, S.
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Zodpey, S.P.
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Bhargava, S.K.
aaa4d65d-aa8b-463d-8dd2-51a9b8516f49
Sachdev, H.P.S.
8667f0cc-a69a-4f5d-b140-14e06edd7894
Osmond, Clive
2677bf85-494f-4a78-adf8-580e1b8acb81
Fall, Caroline
7171a105-34f5-4131-89d7-1aa639893b18
15 January 2022
Pandey, S.
07d6a0b8-861b-4386-9358-f9e460be735c
Devasenpathy, N.
67486ee9-e266-427c-9380-edf0556aed25
Sinha, S.
0b9b3dec-acfd-48af-ac01-88a6c389097d
Zodpey, S.P.
7c668067-f37f-4d5c-bb14-188b39250996
Bhargava, S.K.
aaa4d65d-aa8b-463d-8dd2-51a9b8516f49
Sachdev, H.P.S.
8667f0cc-a69a-4f5d-b140-14e06edd7894
Osmond, Clive
2677bf85-494f-4a78-adf8-580e1b8acb81
Fall, Caroline
7171a105-34f5-4131-89d7-1aa639893b18
Pandey, S., Devasenpathy, N., Sinha, S., Zodpey, S.P., Bhargava, S.K., Sachdev, H.P.S., Osmond, Clive and Fall, Caroline
(2022)
Childhood head growth and educational attainment in an Indian Cohort.
Indian pediatrics, 59 (1), .
Abstract
BACKGROUND: There is minimal information about the association of head growth at different stages of childhood with cognitive ability.
OBJECTIVE: To determine the relationship of newborn head size and head growth during infancy, childhood and adolescence with attained education, a proxy for cognitive ability.
STUDY DESIGN: Prospective birth cohort study.
SETTING: Married women living in South Delhi between 1969 and 1973.
PARTICIPANTS: The New Delhi Birth Cohort study followed up 8030 newborns born in 1969-1973 with head circumference, weight and height measurements at birth and 6-12 monthly until adulthood. Of these, 1526 men and women were followed up at the age of 26-32 years.
OUTCOMES: Association between years of schooling, as an indicator of cognitive ability, and newborn head circumference and conditional measures of head growth during infancy, childhood and adolescence.
RESULTS: In unadjusted analyses, newborn head size was positively associated with years of education [(b (95% CI)=0.30 (0.14 to 0.47) years per SD head circumference], as was head growth from birth to 6 months [b (95% CI)=0.44 (0.28 to 0.60) years per SD conditional head growth], 6 months to 2 years [b (95% CI)=0.31 (0.15 to 0.47) years per SD conditional head growth] and 2 to 11 years [b (95% CI)=0.20 (0.03 to 0.36) years per SD conditional head growth]. There were similar findings for height and body mass index (BMI). In the adjusted model containing all growth measures, gestational age, and socio-economic status (SES) at birth as predictors, only SES was positively associated with educational attainment.
CONCLUSION: Educational attainment in this population is positively associated with socioeconomic status and its influence on inter-related early life (fetal, infant and childhood) factors like nutritional status and brain growth.
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Supplementary methods - conditional growth method
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Accepted/In Press date: 16 August 2021
e-pub ahead of print date: 4 September 2021
Published date: 15 January 2022
Keywords:
Adolescent, Adult, Birth Weight, Body Height, Body Mass Index, Cohort Studies, Educational Status, Female, Humans, Infant, Infant, Newborn, Male, Middle Aged, Prospective Studies
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 451563
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/451563
ISSN: 0019-6061
PURE UUID: 3c4b7471-ca94-442a-9931-9bd250bf38cb
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Date deposited: 11 Oct 2021 16:31
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 06:50
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Contributors
Author:
S. Pandey
Author:
N. Devasenpathy
Author:
S. Sinha
Author:
S.P. Zodpey
Author:
S.K. Bhargava
Author:
H.P.S. Sachdev
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