Link found between unplanned babies from poor families and language delay
Katy Morton
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Children born as a result of an unplanned pregnancy and into disadvantage are more likely to have limited vocabulary and spatial abilities compared to those who are planned, according to a new study.
A team of researchers led by the University of Oxford analysed data from the Millennium Cohort Study of 12,000 children born in the UK between 2000 and 2002. They found that the majority of children born to unplanned pregnancies had a more limited vocabulary and poorer non-verbal and spatial abilities at three and five- years-old.
On average children were four to five months behind planned children in terms of their language abilities.
In contrast, children born through assisted reproduction techniques (for example through IVF or hormone treatment) were three to four months ahead with their vocabulary.
However, these differences disappeared when a child’s socio-economic circumstances were taken into account.
The researchers suggest a link between unplanned children born into disadvantaged families and poor vocabulary and spatial abilities.
Three components of the British Ability Scales (BAS II) were used to assess children’s cognitive skills: naming vocabulary assessed verbal ability at the age of three; this test was repeated at the age of five with the picture similarities and pattern construction subscales, which measure non-verbal and spatial abilities.
For picture similarity children are shown a picture of an object and asked to identify a similar object among a number of pictures; naming vocabulary involves showing pictures of objects to children which they are asked to identify; and for pattern construction children are required to reproduce patterns shown to them in a book and by the interviewer out of coloured blocks.
The researchers conclude, ‘These findings are almost entirely because of differences in socio-economic circumstances, providing further evidence of the influence of socio-economic inequalities on the lives of children in the UK.
‘To help children achieve their full potential, policy makers should continue to target social inequalities.’
Neena Modi, vice-president for Science & Research at the Royal College of Paediatrics & Child Health (RCPCH) said that reducing inequalities to enable parents to give their children the best start in life must be a priority for policy makers.
She said, 'This report reveals that children from unplanned pregnancies have poorer language and other abilities. The researchers also showed that these disadvantages are explained by the association between unplanned pregnancies and social and economic deprivation.
'The impact of social and economic disadvantage on children's outcomes is profound. By tackling these issues, it will have enormous potential to benefit children, their families and subsequent generations.'
- The study Pregnancy planning, fertility treatment and cognitive outcomes at age 3 and 5: longitudinal cohort study is published in the BMJ online.
