Large for Gestational Age and Risk for Academic Delays and Learning Disabilities: Assessing Modification by Maternal Obesity and Diabetes

Kathleen O’Connor Duffany, Katharine H. McVeigh, Heather S. Lipkind, Trace S. Kershaw and Jeannette R. Ickovics
Additional contact information
Kathleen O’Connor Duffany: Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT 06410, USA
Katharine H. McVeigh: Division of Family and Child Health, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, New York, NY 10013, USA
Heather S. Lipkind: Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Science, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT 06510, USA
Trace S. Kershaw: Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT 06410, USA
Jeannette R. Ickovics: Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT 06410, USA

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 15, 1-12

Abstract: The objective of this study was to examine academic delays for children born large for gestational age (LGA) and assess effect modification by maternal obesity and diabetes and then to characterize risks for LGA for those with a mediating condition. Cohort data were obtained from the New York City Longitudinal Study of Early Development, linking birth and educational records ( n = 125,542). Logistic regression was used to compare children born LGA (>90th percentile) to those born appropriate weight (5–89th percentile) for risk of not meeting proficiency on assessments in the third grade and being referred to special education. Among children of women with gestational diabetes, children born LGA had an increased risk of underperforming in mathematics (ARR: 1.18 (95% CI: 1.07–1.31)) and for being referred for special education (ARR: 1.18 (95% CI: 1.02–1.37)). Children born LGA but of women who did not have gestational diabetes had a slightly decreased risk of academic underperformance (mathematics-ARR: 0.94 (95% CI: 0.90–0.97); Language arts-ARR: 0.96 (95% CI: 0.94–0.99)). Children born to women with gestational diabetes with an inadequate number of prenatal care visits were at increased risk of being born LGA, compared to those receiving extensive care (ARR: 1.67 (95% CI: 1.20–2.33)). Children born LGA of women with diabetes were at increased risk of delays; greater utilization of prenatal care among these diabetic women may decrease the incidence of LGA births.

Keywords: gestational diabetes; large for gestational age (LGA); maternal obesity; academic delays; special education (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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