Science Says the Bigger the Newborn, the Better the Adult
According to a new study, the bigger the baby, the better off he or she is. Women might not want to hear that, of course. Because if the report leads to changes in the way the medical community deals with delivering children, it will mean women will be carrying their babies longer. Go ahead and ask any woman who is close to her due date if she wants to be delayed a few more weeks. Then duck.
The movement to delay birth as long as possible started in 2011. Back then, the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists sought research that suggested it wasn't wise to induce labor before the 39th week of pregnancy (barring a medical reason). That, of course, went against what doctors have thought about birth for many years. Previously, the thinking was that babies stopped improving once a certain point was reached. After that, their healthiness would decline the longer they stayed in the womb.
That's one reason why, according to the CDC, almost 50 percent of births are cesarean. That's up from about 25 percent in 1990. Doctors want to get those babies out because they fear they'll begin to decline as time goes by. Each extra week, pregnant women would get more nervous.
A massive study, by Dr. David Figlio at Northwestern University, found that babies do quite well when given time to chill. Figlio and his team studied every baby born in Florida during an 11 year span. What they found was that the bigger the baby was, the healthier it was.
"Seven-pound babies appear to be healthier than six-pound babies — and to fare better in school as they age," reported the New York Times. "The same goes for eight-pound babies compared with seven-pound babies, and nine-pound babies compared with eight-pound babies. Weight, of course, may partly be an indicator of broader fetal health, but it seems to be a meaningful one: The chunkier the baby, the better it does on average, all the way up to almost 10 pounds."
Not only are fatter babies healthier, they're smarter adults. Figlio's report estimated that a 10 pound baby will score about 80 points higher on their SATs than a six pound baby. That's right. Get your jokes in now, because one day those fat kids will be smarter than you.
If this study ends up leading to changes, it will also prompt experts to revisit the once-controversial "Barker hypothesis," which was created by David Barker. Barker said that conditions in the womb impact people well into adulthood. Figlio's report seems to back that up. Figlios' report also shows that there might be an influx of fatty babies on their way. And really, that's a good thing.
[Image via Flickr - E Cohen]
