Low birth weight has a small influence on productivity level in adults, according to a study published in the November 2010 issue of Pediatrics.
University researchers looked at the education and salary levels of 149 adults who had an extremely low birth weight, alongside 133 adults who had a normal birth weight.
The findings suggest “that the long-term economic impact of being born at extremely low birth weight is pretty modest…" said John Goddeeris, an economics professor who led the study.
Although about one out of every 200 babies is born weighing less than 2.2 pounds, little research had been done since, prior to the 1980s, so few of these babies survived. Survivors often suffered from mental delays, complications to the nervous system, and behavioural and learning disabilities.
Advances in medical care have decreased these mortality rates from 58 percent in 1983 to 31 percent in 2005. Neonatal care for low birth weight infants is very expensive, and Goddeeris believes his study shows that the majority of these infants go on to lead productive lives.