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Updated: Jul 20, 2025

Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study
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Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study

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Birth size, school performance and family social position: a study of 650,000 children

Karri Silventoinen1,2, Juha Luukkonen3, Mikko Myrskylä3,4,5,6

  • 1Population Research Unit, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland. karri.silventoinen@helsinki.fi.

Pediatric Research
|July 29, 2023
PubMed

Insights

Birth length is a stronger predictor of school performance than birth weight, especially in lower socioeconomic families. This highlights the importance of the intrauterine environment for cognitive development.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatrics
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Public Health

Background:

  • Low birth weight is linked to poorer cognitive function.
  • Associations across the full birth weight spectrum and its components require further investigation.
  • Family social position may modify these associations.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To examine the relationship between birth weight, birth length, and birth ponderal index with school performance.
  • To investigate how childhood family social position influences these associations.
  • To determine which anthropometric measures are most predictive of later academic achievement.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized Finnish national birth and school performance records (1987-1997, N=642,425).
  • Employed population-averaged and within-siblings fixed-effects linear regression models.
  • Analyzed associations across the full distribution of birth measurements.

Main Results:

  • Birth length demonstrated a linear association with school performance, while birth weight showed a curvilinear relationship.
  • Birth length explained more variation in school performance (0.08% in boys, 0.14% in girls) compared to birth weight.
  • The association between birth length and school performance was more pronounced in lower socioeconomic families.

Conclusions:

  • Birth length is a significant linear predictor of school performance in late adolescence.
  • Birth length provides valuable insights into intrauterine environmental influences on cognitive outcomes.
  • Interventions targeting the intrauterine environment may positively impact long-term academic achievement.
Abstract

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