Birth Weight and Intelligence in Young Adulthood and Midlife

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: We examined the associations between birth weight and intelligence at 3 different adult ages. METHODS: The Copenhagen Perinatal Cohort is comprised of children born in Copenhagen from 1959 to 1961. Information on birth weight and ≥1 tests of intelligence was available for 4696 members of the cohort. Intelligence was assessed at a mean age of 19 years with the Børge Priens Prøve test, at age 28 years with the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, and at age 50 years with the Intelligenz-Struktur-Test 2000 R. RESULTS: Birth weight was significantly associated with intelligence at all 3 follow-up assessments, with intelligence scores increasing across 4 birth weight categories and declining for the highest birth weight category. The adjusted differences between those in the <2.5kg birth weight group and those in the 3.5 to 4.00kg group were >5 IQ points at all 3 follow-up assessments, corresponding to one-third of a SD. The association was stable from young adulthood into midlife,and not weaker at age 50 years. Adjustment for potential confounding factors, including infant socioeconomic status and gestational age, did not dilute the associations, and associations with intelligence were evident across the normal birth weight range and so were not accounted for by low birth weight only. CONCLUSIONS: The association between birth weight and intelligence is stable from young adulthood into midlife. These long-term cognitive consequences may imply that even small shifts in the distribution of birth size, in normal-sized infants as well, may have a large impact at the population level.