title: Academic achievement varies with gestational age among children born at term.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The goal of this study was to examine the degree to which children born within the "normal term" range of 37 to 41 weeks' gestation vary in terms of school achievement.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study analyzed data from 128050 singleton births born between 37 and 41 weeks' gestation in a large US city. Data were extracted from city birth records to assess a number of obstetric, social, and economic variables, at both the individual and community levels. Birth data were then matched with public school records of standardized city-wide third-grade reading and math tests. Specifically, we assessed (1) whether children born within the normal term range of 37 to 41 weeks' gestation show differences in reading and/or math ability 8 years later as a function of gestational age, and (2) the degree to which a wide range of individual- and community-level social and biological factors mediate this effect.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Analyses revealed that gestational age within the normal term range was significantly and positively related to reading and math scores in third grade, with achievement scores for children born at 37 and 38 weeks significantly lower than those for children born at 39, 40, or 41 weeks. This effect was independent of birth weight, as well as a number of other obstetric, social, and economic factors.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Earlier normal term birth may be a characteristic considered by researchers, clinicians, and parents to help identify children who may be at risk for poorer school performance.
authors: Department of Pediatrics, Columbia University, 630 W. 168th St, P&S Box 16, New York, NY 10033, USA. kgn2106@columbia.edu
authors: Kimberly G
authors: KG
authors: Noble
authors: William P
authors: WP
authors: Fifer
authors: Virginia A
authors: VA
authors: Rauh
authors: Yoko
authors: Y
authors: Nomura
authors: Howard F
authors: HF
authors: Andrews
mesh_terms: D000124:Achievement; D001724:Birth Weight; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008433:Mathematics; D015233:Models, Statistical; D009519:New York City; D011932:Reading; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012931:Social Environment; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014505:Urban Population