Low birthweight linked to depression

Girls born at less than five and a half pounds could be at risk from depression during teens

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Tuesday, 06, Mar 2007 12:33

Girls with a low birthweight may have a higher chance of developing depression in their teens than those born with a normal weight, new research has claimed.

Earlier studies have linked low birthweight with depression in adolescence and adulthood, suggesting that the condition lies dormant in individuals and brought out under stressful situations.

In the latest study scientists from Duke University medical school claim that they have found some of the differences between depression and age and sex for the first time.

They studied 1,420 girls and boys aged between nine and 16 who were analysed yearly for depression and other psychiatric disorders.

Of the girls who were born weighing less than 2,500 grams (five pounds, five ounces), 38.1 per cent experienced at least one episode of depression between the ages of 13 and 16. This compares with 8.4 per cent of those born with a normal weight.

Writing in the journal Archives of General Psychiatry, the researchers argue that if all female babies were born with a normal weight, 18 per cent fewer teenage girls would suffer from depression.

The same effect was not found in the boys taking part in the study. Throughout childhood and adolescence, no more than 4.9 per cent experiences depression.

A larger study now needs to be carried out, the researchers say, focussing on the different aspects of puberty that could explain the increase in depression during teenage years.

"For the present, the findings suggest that paediatricians and parents of girls who were of low birth weight should pay close attention to their mental health as they enter puberty," the researchers conclude.

The Department of Health estimates that at any one time one adult in six suffers from mental illness in some form, including depression.