Low birth weight linked to communication problems in children

NIH-supported study tracks impact of a range of low birth weights up to age 10

A speech-language pathologist leads a speech-language therapy session with a young boy.

The effects of low birth weight on communication and developmental problems extend beyond the tiniest of babies and continue well into childhood, according to an analysis of follow-up survey data on a large, diverse group of children. Among the results, the researchers found that by age 10, children in all three standard categories of low birth weight were more likely to have been diagnosed with a speech-language disorder and to have received speech-language services than children who had been born at a normal weight. Funded by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), part of the National Institutes of Health, the study appears in the September issue of Early Human Development.