School success starts before birth
Research from Perth's The Kids for Child Health Research has revealed a link between healthy growth in the womb and improved numeracy and literacy skills in early primary school.
The studies, published in the international Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health and American Journal of Epidemiology, showed that healthy fetal growth not only helps to improve a child's performance at school, but that it may contribute towards closing the achievement gap for children from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds.
Institute Director and study co-author Professor Fiona Stanley said the findings reinforce the need for better integration of health and education policy and services.
"This is an example of the need for joined up thinking; that the pathways into improved education include maternal and child health," Professor Stanley said.
"It could be that one of the most important things governments can do to boost educational outcomes is to improve the health of pregnant women, particularly in disadvantaged areas."
"We know that drugs like alcohol and tobacco restrict a baby's growth in the womb so we really need to be supporting mothers and giving them the information they need to have healthier pregnancies."
The study was made possible through a collaboration between the Institute and the WA Departments of Education and Training and Health that allowed the de-identified linking of midwife records and standardised testing (WALNA) results from more than 55,000 children.
"This is the first time that we've been able to match birth and educational information and identify some of the broad factors that are linked to educational success," Professor Stanley said.
"I'm particularly interested that good fetal growth appears to give children from disadvantaged areas a comparatively better start. It's easy to blame schools for poor results, but it might be more accurate to start asking about the quality and availability of healthcare, childcare and local government services in that area. Schools can provide good education for children but the task may be easier if the child enters school with healthy brain development and ready to learn. "
Professor Stanley said the findings should not alarm mothers who had difficult pregnancies.
"What we're looking at here are broad trends which warrant policy intervention. On an individual scale, what is also true is that involved and active parents can make an enormous difference to their child's educational attainment and wellbeing."
The research was supported by funding from the Australian Research Council Linkage Project Grant.
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Studies:
Malacova E, Li J, Blair E, Mattes E, de Klerk N and Stanley F Neighbourhood and socioeconomic status and maternal factors at birth as moderators of the association between birth characteristics and school attainment: A population study of children attending government schools in Western Australia; Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 2009
Malacova E, Li J, Blair E, Leonard H, de Klerk N, Stanley F Association of birth outcomes, maternal , school, and neighbourhood characteristics with subsequent numeracy achievement. American Journal of Epidemiology 2008