Baranyi Gergő, Harron Katie, Fitzsimons Emla
Centre for Longitudinal Studies, UCL Social Research Institute, University College London, London, UK
Population, Policy & Practice Department, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, University College London, London, UK.
Arch Dis Child. 2025 May 16;110(6):455-462. doi: 10.1136/archdischild-2025-328611.
To explore how birth weight and size-for-gestation may contribute to school absences and educational attainment and whether there are different associations across sex and income groups.
Longitudinal linked cohort study.
Data were drawn from the Millennium Cohort Study, a nationally representative cohort of children born in 2000-2001; percentage of authorised and unauthorised absences from Year 1 to Year 11, and Key Stage test scores at ages 7, 11 and 16 in English and Maths were linked from the National Pupil Database. Birth outcomes and covariates were derived from the 9-month survey, and linear regressions with complex survey weights were fitted.
Being born small-for-gestational-age (vs average-for-gestational-age) was associated with an increase of 0.47%, 0.55% and 0.40% in authorised absences in Years 1, 3 and 4 (n=6659) and with a reduction of 0.16-0.26 SD in all English and Maths test scores (n=6204). Similar associations were found for birth weight. After adjusting for prior test scores, English (b=0.07) and Maths (b=0.05) performance at age 11 remained associated with birth weight. Socioeconomic status modified the associations: there were larger disparities in test scores among higher-income families, suggesting that higher income did not compensate for being born small-for-gestational-age.
Children born smaller missed slightly more classes (~1 day per year) during primary school and had lower English and Maths performance across compulsory education. Exploring specific health conditions and understanding how education and health systems can work together to support children may help to reduce the burden.
探讨出生体重和孕期大小如何影响学校缺勤率和学业成就，以及性别和收入群体之间是否存在不同的关联。
纵向关联队列研究。
数据来自千禧队列研究，这是一个具有全国代表性的2000 - 2001年出生儿童队列；从全国学生数据库中获取了1年级到11年级的批准缺勤和未经批准缺勤的百分比，以及7岁、11岁和16岁时英语和数学的关键阶段测试成绩。出生结局和协变量来自9个月的调查，并采用复杂抽样权重进行线性回归分析。
小于胎龄儿（相对于适于胎龄儿）在1年级、3年级和4年级的批准缺勤率分别增加0.47%、0.55%和0.40%（n = 6659），所有英语和数学测试成绩降低0.16 - 0.26标准差（n = 6204）。出生体重也有类似关联。在调整先前测试成绩后，11岁时的英语（b = 0.07）和数学（b = 0.05）成绩仍与出生体重相关。社会经济地位改变了这种关联：高收入家庭的测试成绩差异更大，这表明高收入并不能弥补小于胎龄出生的影响。
出生较小的儿童在小学期间缺课略多（约每年1天），并且在义务教育阶段的英语和数学成绩较低。探索特定健康状况并了解教育和卫生系统如何共同努力支持儿童可能有助于减轻负担。
