Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T07:58:27.777Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Aerobic capacity as a mediator of the influence of birth weight and school performance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 March 2016

A. García-Hermoso
A. García-Hermoso*
Affiliation:
Laboratorio de Ciencias de la Actividad Física, el Deporte y la Salud, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, USACH, Santiago, Chile
*
*Address for correspondence: Antonio García-Hermoso, Laboratorio de Ciencias de la Actividad Física, el Deporte y la Salud, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Avenida Libertador Bernardo O’Higgins nº 3363. Estación Central. Santiago de Chile (Chile). Telephone: +56 227183754 (Email antonio.garcia.h@usach.cl)
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Low birth weight is associated with cognitive impairments persisting into adolescence and early adulthood. The purposes of this study was two-fold: to analyse the association between birth weight (BW) and school performance, and to determine the influence of adolescent aerobic capacity and muscular strength on the association between BW and school performance in children at 12–13 years. The study included 395 children (50.4% boys, aged 12–13 years). Self-reported BW was evaluated. We measured school performance (mean of the grades obtained in language and mathematics) and two physical fitness tests (aerobic capacity and muscular strength). Analysis of variance was used to analyse the differences in school performance according to BW categories (⩽2500, 2500–3500 and ⩾3500 g). Linear regression models fitted for mediation analyses examined whether the association between BW and school performance was mediated by aerobic capacity and/or muscular strength. Higher BW was associated with better school performance independent of current body mass index. These differences disappeared after controlling for aerobic capacity, which also mediated the association between BW and school performance (13.4%). The relationship between BW and school performance seems to be dependent on aerobic capacity fitness. Our results are of importance because the consequences of BW tend to continue into childhood, and current physical fitness of the children may potentially be modified to improve school performance.

Keywords

academic achievementmuscular strengthneonatal outcomesphysical fitness
Type
Original Article
Information
Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease , Volume 7 , Issue 4 , August 2016 , pp. 337 - 341
Check for updates
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press and the International Society for Developmental Origins of Health and Disease 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Kormos, C, Wilkinson, A, Davey, C, Cunningham, A. Low birth weight and intelligence in adolescence and early adulthood: a meta-analysis. J Public Health. 2014; 36, 213–224.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
2. Moreira, RS, Magalhães, LC, Alves, CR. Effect of preterm birth on motor development, behavior, and school performance of school-age children: a systematic review. J Pediatr (Rio J). 2014; 90, 119–134.Google Scholar
3. Franz, AR, Pohlandt, F, Bode, H, et al. Intrauterine, early neonatal, and postdischarge growth and neurodevelopmental outcome at 5.4 years in extremely preterm infants after intensive neonatal nutritional support. Pediatrics. 2009; 123, e101–e109.Google Scholar
4. Esteban‐Cornejo, I, Tejero‐González, C, Castro‐Piñero, J, et al. Independent and combined influence of neonatal and current body composition on academic performance in youth: the UP & DOWN Study. Pediatr Obes. 2015; 10, 157–164.Google Scholar
5. Kirkegaard, I, Obel, C, Hedegaard, M, Henriksen, TB. Gestational age and birth weight in relation to school performance of 10-year-old children: a follow-up study of children born after 32 completed weeks. Pediatrics. 2006; 118, 1600–1606.Google Scholar
6. Esteban-Cornejo, I, Tejero-González, CM, Martinez-Gomez, D, et al. Independent and combined influence of the components of physical fitness on academic performance in youth. J Pediatr. 2014; 165, 306–312.Google Scholar
7. Torrijos-Niño, C, Martínez-Vizcaíno, V, Pardo-Guijarro, MJ, et al. Physical fitness, obesity, and academic achievement in schoolchildren. J Pediatr. 2014; 165, 104–109.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
8. Ridgway, CL, Ong, KK, Tammelin, T, et al. Birth size, infant weight gain, and motor development influence adult physical performance. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2009; 41, 1212–1221.Google Scholar
9. van Deutekom, A, Chinapaw, M, Vrijkotte, T, Gemke, R. The association of birth weight and infant growth with physical fitness at 8–9 years of age – the ABCD study. Int J Obes. 2014; 39, 593–600.Google Scholar
10. Richards, M, Hardy, R, Kuh, D, Wadsworth, ME. Birth weight and cognitive function in the British 1946 birth cohort: longitudinal population based study. BMJ. 2001; 322, 199–203.Google Scholar
11. Johnson, EO, Breslau, N. Increased risk of learning disabilities in low birth weight boys at age 11 years. Biol Psychiatry. 2000; 47, 490–500.Google Scholar
12. Seidman, DS, Slater, PE, Ever-Hadani, P, Gale, R. Accuracy of mothers’ recall of birthweight and gestational age. Br J Obstet Gynaecol. 1987; 94, 731–735.Google Scholar
13. Ruiz, J, España, RV, Castro, PJ, et al. ALPHA-fitness test battery: health-related field-based fitness tests assessment in children and adolescents. Nutr Hosp. 2010; 26, 1210–1214.Google Scholar
14. Leger, L, Mercier, D, Gadoury, C, Lambert, J. The multistage 20 metre shuttle run test for aerobic fitness. J Sports Sci. 1988; 6, 93–101.Google Scholar
15. Ruiz, JR, Castro-Piñero, J, España-Romero, V, et al. Field-based fitness assessment in young people: the ALPHA health-related fitness test battery for children and adolescents. Br J Sports Med. 2010; 45, 518–524.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
16. Martínez-Gómez, D, Martínez-de-Haro, V, Pozo, T, et al. Fiabilidad y validez del cuestionario de actividad física PAQ-A en adolescentes españoles. Rev Esp Salud Pública. 2009; 83, 427–439.Google Scholar
17. Currie, C. Social Determinants of Health and Well-Being Among Young People. 2012. World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe Copenhagen: Geneva.Google Scholar
18. Álvarez, ML, Muzzo, S, Ivanovic, D. Escala para medición del nivel socioeconómico, en el área de la salud. Rev Med Chile. 1985; 113, 243–249.Google Scholar
19. Preacher, KJ, Hayes, AF. Asymptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models. Behav Res Methods. 2008; 40, 879–891.Google Scholar
20. Villarroel, L, Karzulovic, L, Manzi, J, et al. Association of perinatal factors and school performance in primary school Chilean children. J Dev Orig Health Dis. 2013; 4, 232–238.Google Scholar
21. Doctor, BA, O’Riordan, MA, Kirchner, HL, et al. Perinatal correlates and neonatal outcomes of small for gestational age infants born at term gestation. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. 2001; 185, 652–659.Google Scholar
22. Aguilar, MM, Vergara, FA, Velásquez, EJ, Marina, R, García-Hermoso, A. Screen time impairs the relationship between physical fitness and school performance in children. J Pediatr (Rio J). 2015; 91, 339–345.Google Scholar
23. Sardinha, LB, Marques, A, Minderico, C, et al. Longitudinal relationship between cardiorespiratory fitness and academic achievement. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2015; doi:10.1249/MSS.0000000000000830.Google Scholar
24. Chaddock, L, Erickson, KI, Prakash, RS, et al. A neuroimaging investigation of the association between aerobic fitness, hippocampal volume, and memory performance in preadolescent children. Brain Res. 2010; 1358, 172–183.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
25. Scudder, MR, Federmeier, KD, Raine, LB, et al. The association between aerobic fitness and language processing in children: implications for academic achievement. Brain Cogn. 2014; 87, 140–152.Google Scholar
26. Clark, CA, Fang, H, Espy, KA, et al. Relation of neural structure to persistently low academic achievement: a longitudinal study of children with differing birth weights. Neuropsychology. 2013; 27, 364–377.Google Scholar
27. Ortega, F, Ruiz, J, Castillo, M, Sjöström, M. Physical fitness in childhood and adolescence: a powerful marker of health. Int J Obes. 2007; 32, 1–11.Google Scholar