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Heavier birth weight tied to conduct problems

Among twins whose weight differs markedly at birth, the heavier child is more likely to have conduct problems at ages 3 and 4 years, suggests a new study.

Heavier birth weight tied to conduct problems

Among twins whose weight differs markedly at birth, the heavier child is more likely to have conduct problems at ages 3 and 4 years, suggests a new study.

There are very few studies on twin weight differences and conduct problems later on in life. To examine whether twin birth weight differences relate to subsequent differences in conduct problems at 3 to 4 years of age, researchers surveyed 1,319 Israeli families of twins, who were born between 2004 and 2005. The families were questioned via mail regarding their twins' behaviour, birth weight, and zygosity (the degree of identity in the genome of twins) at age three years. A total of 112 twin pairs of the same gender and but different weight were selected for the main analyses of the study. Among the twin pairs, one twin weighed at least 20 percent more than the other.

On the basis of the mothers' reports on twins' conduct problems, it was found that the heavier twin had more conduct problems in 41 percent of the twin pairs. The twin who weighed less had more conduct problems in only 21 percent of the cases. This effect tended to be stronger in dizygotic compared with monozygotic twins. Monozygotic twins are genetically identical individuals derived from a single fertilized egg whereas dizygotic twins result when two different eggs undergo fertilization by two different spermatozoa.

The above findings suggest that the birth weight of twin pairs appears to have important effects on later development, with larger twins having more conduct problems than the smaller infant of the pair. Further studies, however, are needed to clarify the mediating factors of this effect.
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