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LIGHTER babies develop slightly lower IQs than heavier babies, Thomas Matte’s
team at the New York Academy of Medicine has found. The researchers looked at
the birthweights of more than 3000 children, which ranged from 1.5 to 4
kilograms, and their IQ at 7 years. For every kilogram increase in birthweight,
there was a 4.6-point increase in IQ among boys, but only a 2.8-point increase
among girls, they report in the British Medical Journal (vol 323, p 310). Babies
born under 2.5 kilograms are known to score lower on IQ tests as children, but
this is the first time a link between normal birthweights and IQ anyone has
found.