Low birthweight’s tie to reading performance

While a number of factors contribute to a child’s ability to read effectively – mother’s education, socioeconomic status and lead exposure to name a few – a child’s weight at birth may be the most significant. Research indicates low birthweight babies are much more likely to fail in school than those of average weight or better.

As United Way for Southeastern Michigan pursues its Agenda for Change, which targets educational preparedness as one of three focus areas, it is critical to increase awareness of contributing (root) factors that impede progress. Getting more children to read at grade level is one of the priorities of the educational preparedness work, as evidenced by the recent launch of Operation ABC -- a unique initiative focused on improving grade level reading by mobilizing at least 2,000 volunteers and rallying multiple sectors of the community around the cause. Research shows that what a child weighs at birth is an important factor in future educational success.

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