Baby Size and Future Success

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  Baby
Size & Future Success		 Robert
Seith

| CWK Network
 
 
“ It’s
important to help kids accept themselves for who they are. And
I spend a lot of time assuring parents who’s kids are growing
on the smaller end of the normal range… on the 3 rd or 5
th percentile… that that’s fine. If that’s what
genetics tells them that’s what their body should be. ”

–

Pediatrician Karen Dewling, M.D., who says parents shouldn’t read too much
into a study that found that more successful people were bigger, on average,
as babies. –
  Related Information What Parents Need To Know Resources

At
29 inches 1-year-old tall Tyler Lewchuck is a little on the small
side…

Baby Chaz Bush, however, is a towering 32 inches.

“95 th percentile in weight and 97 th percentile in height,” says
his mom, Veda Bush.

Interesting trivia for the baby book…

But… according to Finnish research published in the Archives
of Disease in Childhood, it could mean much more.

“The study suggests that children who were taller at one
year of age (split to 1:01:09) “Seem to do better in life,” says
pediatrician Karen Dewling, M.D.

The study looked at adult males born between 1934 and 1944. Those
who were 31 and a half inches tall or more at the age of one, ended
up better educated and had better jobs.

The shortest babies were the least educated and the most likely
to work as manual laborers.

“I don’t think you can say that tall people are smarter
and more successful,” says Dr. Dewling.

What you can say, she says, is that in the depression years… babies
who grew better sometimes meant those were babies who got better
nutrition.

“And that is true not just for height growth but for brain
growth. And if you have better brain growth, you’ll have
a higher intelligence and perhaps be more successful in life,” says
Dr. Dewling.

Today, she says, despite better nutrition, what lingers is a
bias against short people…

“And could those kinds of things in life over and over
again harm someone’s self-esteem and make them take a more
menial job… I suppose there could be some of that.”

She says luckily… that’s something parents can
change.

Tylers mom Stacey Lewchuck agrees. “I think if you raise him
with good self-esteem and you know, good values, you’re going
to overcome whatever shortcoming you might have. I mean if it’s
your height or your weight, if you’re good at what you do… that’s
all that matters.”
By Larry Eldridge
CWK Network, Inc.

Babies who are a head taller than their friends may have a head start with
their finances, according to a recent study. Between 1934 and 1944, researchers
in Finland measured the heights of a group of boys at age 1 and compared
their findings to what the boys – now adults – were earning in
1990. The results, published in the Archives of Disease in Childhood,
showed that the children who were at least 32 inches tall at age 1 earned
50 percent more as adults than children who measured 28 inches or less. In
addition, 44 percent of the boys who measured 28 inches or less went into
manual labor, compared to only 20 percent or those over 32 inches tall. But
while the results indicate that the boys earned 3.5 percent for every three-quarters
of an inch in height, Edward Melhuish, a professor at Birkbeck College in
London, was quick to point out that people in a higher social class tend
to be taller than those in a lower class, which could lead to the disparity
in the babies’ heights and future earnings.
 
By Larry Eldridge
CWK Network, Inc.

Whether your child is tall, average or short, how you raise
him/her will likely have more to do with his/her success in the future than
will his/her height. Experts at the Center for Effective Parenting have developed
the following list of suggestions to help raise responsible, self-confident
adults:

  • Let your child perform tasks for himself or herself. Even very
    young children begin to show an interest in performing tasks for
    themselves. You can encourage independence by letting your child
    perform tasks for himself or herself as soon as he/she expresses
    a desire to do so. Focus on your child’s effort, and avoid
    being critical of the end product.
  • Let your child help with challenging tasks. Encourage your child
    to try to perform new tasks and to face new challenges. By doing
    so, you will certainly boost your child’s sense of competence.
  • Encourage your child to make decisions. Begin encouraging decision-making
    while your child is young. At first, choices should be kept simple,
    like allowing your child to choose from two outfits which one to
    wear. As your child ages, encourage him/her to make more complex
    decisions. Your child will learn to make good choices by being
    given choices.
  • Learn to model responsibility and independence. Children learn
    by watching their parents. One of the best ways for you to teach
    your child to behave responsibly and independently is by displaying
    those behaviors yourself. Let your child see you make decisions
    without wavering and take care of responsibilities in an appropriate
    manner.
  • Help and encourage your child to solve his/her own problems.
    Teach your child the importance of coming up with his/her own solutions
    to problems. The ability to problem-solve is a skill that will
    be useful throughout your child’s life. It will also aid
    in his/her development of confidence and independence.
  • Encourage your child to take risks. Taking risks involves facing
    potential failure. Many parents try to shield their children from
    the disappointment of failure, and by doing so, they do their children
    a disservice. Your child needs to take risks in order to grow.
    He/she must experience failure in order to learn how to cope with
    it.
  • Be there to provide support when needed. Even the most independent-minded
    children need to lean on their parents from time to time. Make
    an effort to be available to your child and to provide support
    when needed. If your child knows you will be there when he/she
    needs you, your child will have the confidence needed to explore
    the world.
  • Provide adequate discipline. Children need structure in their
    lives to feel secure. Appropriate discipline provides this structure.
    Your child needs to know what to expect from you and what you expect
    from him/her. Consistent discipline helps your child learn about
    what’s expected of him/her. If your child knows what to expect,
    he/she will feel more in control of his/her life and is thus more
    likely to behave in responsible and independent ways.
 

Archives of Disease in Childhood
British Broadcasting Corporation
Center for Effective Parenting