Babies Born At An Extremely Low Birth Weight May Increase Risk of Mental Health Issues As An Adult

HealthDay (10/5, Mozes) reports, “Being born at an extremely low birth weight,” that is, at 2.2 pounds or less, “seems to increase the risk for developing mental health issues as an adult,” but such “risk can be lowered by lessening exposure to bullying and family stress during childhood and adolescence,” researchers found after reviewing “40 years’ worth of data” on “nearly 180 extremely low birth weight children who had been born between 1977 and 1982 and survived into adulthood,” then comparing “their adult mental health status…with that of 145 adults who had been born at a normal weight.” The findings were published online Oct. 3 in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Protecting Preemies From Stress Might Improve Later Mental Health,” Alan Mozes, HealthDay, October 5, 2017.

Posted in In The News.