How being a premature baby affects you for life
- Researchers analysed 41 previous studies on premature babies over 26 years
- They found that being born prematurely causes infants high levels of stress
- And experts claim this can make them more prone to mental health disorders
Stephen Matthews For Mailonline
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Premature babies have a higher risk of being depressed as they grow older, new research suggests.
Despite their physical issues being widely reported, the effects of being born early isn’t conducted on the same scale.
But scientists have found ‘sugar-bag babies’ – born prematurely at low-birth weights – causes infants high levels of stress both inside and outside the womb.
In turn, this can make them more prone to ADHD in childhood, anxiety and even being shy as an adult, experts claim.
‘Sugar-bag babies’ – born prematurely at low-birth weights – are more prone to mental health disorders, scientists have found
Researchers from McMaster University, Ontario, analysed 41 previous studies that followed 2,712 premature babies.
A further 11,127 participants who were deemed a normal weight at birth were also monitored over a 26-year period.
They found an extremely low birth weight increased the risk of mental health disorders in childhood.
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As children, they were also found to be more likely to have ADHD in almost every study conducted.
Adolescents also had the same risk, according to the research published in the journal Psychology Bulletin.
Adults born with low birth weight reported significantly higher levels of anxiety, depression and shyness, as well as significantly lower levels of social functioning.
Experts say being born early causes infants high levels of stress both inside and outside the womb – which can last until adulthood
Study author Dr Karen Mathewson said: ‘Our findings provide evidence that individuals born at extremely low birth weight are at higher overall risk for psychological difficulties than their normal birth weight peers.
‘These difficulties most frequently involve attention, anxiety-related and social problems.’
THE DOWNSIDE OF BEING A VEGAN
Vegan mothers are more likely to give birth prematurely, scientists warned last month.
Those who avoid eating meat, eggs and dairy are known to be deficient in vitamin B-12 – an essential nutrient.
Diets of pregnant women are known to be vital, as a well-balanced one ensures the health of the foetus.
But being deficient in the specific vitamin increases the risk of having a premature baby by 21 per cent, a Norwegian study found.
They said their results could be down to biological responses from premature babies after undergoing difficult conditions following their birth.
The findings point to the need to continue to provide services to these individuals throughout their lives, the researchers said.
It is believed 8 per cent of children are born premature in the US and Canada, while in the UK the figure is around one in every 80,000 births.
But because of improvements in recent decades, premature babies have a greater chance of surviving than ever before.
This comes after a study last May claimed that those born prematurely are more likely to grow up to be poor – in terms of both wealth and well-being.
Fewer adults who were sugar bag babies were employed or had children, researchers from McMaster University found.
And they were also more likely to have lower incomes, be single and report more chronic health conditions than their normal-birth-weight-term counterparts.
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