Premature birth linked to risk of adult illness

19 Nov 2008

Babies who are born underweight or prematurely are more likely to suffer from poor health later in life, research suggests.

Dr Rebecca Jones, from Tommy's Manchester Research Centre at St Mary's General Hospital, said: "More is known about short term complications, for example, problems with underdeveloped lungs or the brain, which may cause long lasting disabilities.

"However, there is evidence that being born small or prematurely increases the risk of the baby developing illnesses when they are an adult. These include cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity."

According to statistics, 8.6% of babies in the UK were born early in 2006-07 - an increase of an additional 10,554 premature births compared to the previous 15 years.

Dr Jones revealed that there is currently a lot of research being carried out in the UK and worldwide into the long-term heath implications of being born prematurely.

Pregnancy complications such as pre-eclampsia can often result in an early labour, experts explain.

Please click here for pregnancy advice and pregnancy information.

Like this? Subscribe to RSS feed!

---

	Related news
	Prenatal smoking linked to child aggression  » New pregnancy screening method introduced in Somerset  » It's a girl for Ben and Jen » Baby girls for Rebecca Romijn, Jerry O'Connell  » Tim Allen 'ecstatic' about wife's pregnancy  » All news »