Preterm Children Perform Poorer in School and Should Be Treated as Children With "Special Needs"

Children born before 34 weeks have been found to have poorer reading and math skills. They were also found to have lower incomes during adulthood and will most likely own a house of their own later than those children who were born at full term.

Some health experts say that babies who were not fully termed when they were born should be treated similar to those children with "special need." They also mentioned that these children should be monitored from primary school for any signs of difficulties coping with their lessons.

According to a report from the nuffieldfoundation.org, these findings were based on a study spearheaded by Professor Dieter Wolke at the University of Warwick and funded by the Nuffield Foundation. The study reviewed data from past studies and found that there is a direct link between the poor reading and math skills of those children born prematurely and the low educational qualifications after leaving school and lower income in middle age.

Sciencedaily.com reported that 11 percent of the total births in the world are premature births. And at least 2 children in every primary school classroom were born prematurely. The study is also trying to determine if delaying the child's entry in school can provide children who were born prematurely the chance to perform better, but was not successful in finding evidence that can support it. They found that there was no difference in the performance between children who started going to school a year later and those who started at the correct time.

Prof. Wolke said: "Our findings lead us to recommend that all preterm children born before 34 weeks of gestation may benefit from regular follow-up after discharge from hospital. "Interventions are required around the time of school entry to facilitate preterm children to have an optimal start to their schooling career. Delayed school entry is not recommended on current evidence, but more research is needed," he continued.

Nuffield Foundation also suggests a "follow-up assessment" to determine mental, social and emotional difficulties that preterm children may be suffering as early as possible before it can carry on through primary school. They also emphasized that teachers should undergo more training. "New teaching approaches need to be developed to deal with the special educational and social needs of preterm children in the classroom," they concluded, the Telegraph reported.

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