High Self-Esteem in underweight babies

Parents of teenagers who were underweight at the time of birth – less than 1 kg. – feel that their kids suffer from hyperactivity, depression or other problems as compared to those parents whose kids were born at normal weights.

However, the teens have positive self-images. They themselves don’t see a problem. They don’t think they suffer from hyperactivity, depression or other problems.

In the study, parents of teens who were extremely underweight at birth were more likely than parents of kids with normal birth weight to report that their child was depressed or had trouble paying attention. Teens who had been extremely underweight at birth, however, reported feeling just like other kids and reported similar levels of depression and attention problems as their peers.

“This is a testament to the resilience of both parents and children that the preemies are functioning as well as they are,” said Dr. Saroj Saigal of McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. “I am amazed at how well they are doing.”

In an interview with Reuters Health, Saigal explained that babies with a very low birth weight — less than 1 kilogram (approximately 2.2 pounds) — often have a high proportion of learning disabilities and social problems.

Saigal and her colleagues have been following hundreds of premature babies since birth to observe how they function in society as they grow up. Less than half of the original group of 397 babies survived long enough to leave the hospital, and some died after leaving the hospital.

The current study included 263 teenagers from Ontario, half of whom were very underweight at birth. The study excluded nine teens who were too severely impaired to complete the self-reports.

Not surprisingly, teens who have been very underweight at birth were more likely than other teens to have academic problems at school and to have failed a grade.

Perhaps in recognition of their child’s problems in school, parents were more likely to report that their child had symptoms of attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) than parents of teens who had been at normal weight at birth. Parents of the low birth weight children also were more likely to report that their child experienced symptoms of depression.

But children who had been very underweight reported feeling that they were no different than their peers, according to a report in this month’s issue of Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.


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