WEDNESDAY, May 5 (HealthDay News) — Among twins whose weight differs markedly at birth, the heavier child is more likely to have conduct problems at ages 3 and 4, a new study finds.
“The findings suggest an effect of birth weight differences on development of subsequent conduct problems,” researchers led by Dr. David Mankuta of Hadassah Hebrew University Hospital in Jerusalem, said in a news release. “Further studies are needed to clarify the mediating factors of this effect.”
The team studied 112 pairs of Israeli twins in which one weighed at least 20 percent more than the other. The twins were born in 2004 and 2005.
The researchers 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.
The study findings were published in the May issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
More information
For more on twins, see the U.S. National Library of Medicine.