Infants Who Have Low-Birth Weights Are More Prone to Depression, Anxiety

An old wives tail says that fat babies are happier babies. Researchers have discovered that the old saying may very well be true. In a recent press release, researchers announced that babies who have a low birth weight are prone to become anxious and depressed later in their lives.

In a recent press release, researchers from the University of Cambridge and the University College London in England detailed their findings. Their study specifically looked at low birth weights caused by adverse conditions while the infants were developing in utero.

They theorize that there may be a variety of factors at play but their studies showed that not only was low birth weight related to depression and anxiety, they also found that those groups of people who reached developmental milestones later than other children also had more mental health problems throughout their lives. Developmental milestones include walking, talking, and standing.

Researchers focused on situations where there was stress or another problem during the pregnancy that accounted for the low birth-weights of the people they studied. Since the data used goes clear back to 1946, no distinctions were made between premature births and full term births either.

Scientists do know that extreme stress can cause the blood that flows through the umbilical cord to be restricted, thus preventing the developing infant form getting the nutrients that it needs.

Stress also causes stress hormones to be passed to the developing infant. This may also affect an infant's stress response and neurodevelopment that follow the infant throughout its life.

Researchers theorize that this neurodevelopment causes the brain to become programmed to respond to stress differently than those infants who are not subjected to extreme stress while in utero. As the infants age, and stressful events present themselves, these infants are predisposed to react to stress in a manner that is more anxious or by becoming depressed.

"We found that even people who had just mild or moderate symptoms of depression
or anxiety over their life course were smaller babies than those who had better mental health. It suggests a dose-response relationship. As birth weight progressively decreases, it's more likely that an individual will suffer from mood disorders later in life," said Ian Colman of the University of Alberta's School of Public Health.

Researchers have concluded that it is in society's best interest to take better care of all pregnant women, since so many other factors can influence the outcome for their developing child.

This study has been published in Biological Psychiatry.

Source:
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-12/uoa-sbm120407.php