Journal Article

Short stature and language development in the United Kingdom: a longitudinal analysis of children from the Millennium Cohort Study

Morris, Joan K., Orr, Joanna, Storr, Helen L., Prendergast, Andrew J., Freer, Joseph, Walton, Robert, Dunkel, Leo

2022

Overview

Background In low- and middle-income countries, poverty and impaired growth prevent children from meeting their cognitive developmental potential. There are few studies investigating these relationships in high-income settings. Methods Participants were 12,536 children born between 2000 and 2002 in the UK and participating in the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS). Short stature was defined as having a height-for-age 2 or more standard deviations below the median (≤ − 2 SDS) at age 3 years. Standardized British Abilities Scales II (BAS II) language measures, used to assess language development at ages 3, 5, 7 and 11 years, were the main outcome assessed. Results Children with short stature at age 3 years (4.1%) had language development scores that were consistently lower from ages 3 to 11 years (− 0.26 standard deviations (SD) (95% CI − 0.37, − 0.15)). This effect was attenuated but remained significant after adjustment for covariates. Trajectory analysis produced four distinct patterns of language development scores (low-declining, low-improving, average and high). Multinomial logistic regression models showed that children with short stature had a higher risk of being in the low-declining group, relative to the average group (relative risk ratio (RRR) = 2.11 (95% CI 1.51, 2.95)). They were also less likely to be in the high-scoring group (RRR = 0.65 (0.52, 0.82)). Children with short stature at age 3 years who had ‘caught up’ by age 5 years (height-for-age ≥ 2 SDS) did not have significantly different scores from children with persistent short stature, but had a higher probability of being in the high-performing group than children without catch-up growth (RRR = 1.84 (1.11, 3.07)). Conclusions Short stature at age 3 years was associated with lower language development scores at ages 3 to 11 years in UK children. These associations remained significant after adjustment for socioeconomic, child and parental factors.

• Publisher: BioMed Central,BioMed Central Ltd,Springer Nature B.V,BMC
• Subject: Age / Biomedicine / Body height / Breastfeeding & lactation / Child development / Children / Children & youth / Cognition / Cognition & reasoning / Cognitive ability / Cognitive development / Cohort analysis / Data collection / Ethnicity / Evaluation / Growth models / Health aspects / Height / Income / Language / Language acquisition / Linear growth / Medicine / Medicine & Public Health / Poverty / Regression analysis / Regression models / Research Article / Short stature / Socioeconomic factors / Standard deviation / Statistical analysis / Stature, Short / Stunting / Trajectory analysis / Variables