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Some Maternal and Child Developmental Characteristics Associated with Breast Feeding: A Report from the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Child Development Study

Some maternal and child developmental characteristics associated with breast feeding: A report from the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Child Development Study. A study of some maternal, experiential, and developmental characteristics of 1037 three‐year‐old children who were breast fed for varying lengths of time was described. The results indicated that those children who breast fed longest had advantaged mothers and more developmental experiences. When these differences were controlled by matching breast fed with non breast fed children, there were no significant advantages in developmental status found consistently to characterise the breast fed children. It was concluded that alleged “probable” developmental benefits to children from breast feeding should be more properly considered “possible”.

Childhood accidents involving the electric jug—options for prevention

Abstract Accidental scalds to New Zealand children under 5 years of age are identified as a prominent thermal injury. The electric jug is a product which is frequently involved in these accidents. The options for preventing these accidents are discussed. The authors argue that since ‘passive’ strategies do not appear to be possible at present, ‘active’ strategies are the only alternative. The difficulties associated with some specific ‘active’ strategies are discussed and it is concluded that more has to be done than just providing a safeguard or safe alternative.

Three‐Year‐Old Twins and Singletons: a Comparison of Some Perinatal, Environmental, Experiential, and Developmental Characteristics

McDiarmid, J. McK. and Silva, P. A. (1979). Aust. Paediatr. J., 15, 243–247. Three‐year‐old twins and singletons: a comparison of some perinatal, environmental, experiential, and developmental characteristics. Twenty‐four 3‐year‐old twins were compared with 1013 singletons on an array of perinatal, experiential, and developmental parameters. More mothers of the twins had moderate hypertension during pregnancy. The twins experienced significantly more birth hypoxia, had reduced gestational ages, lower birth weight, and more neonatal apnoea than the singletons. The twins had fewer experiences as preschoolers than the singletons. They were slower to smile, talk, feed themselves with a spoon, and attain bladder control. The twins were shorter, lighter, had smaller head circumferences, and were about 3 months slower than the singletons in both receptive and expressive language development. The 24 twins were matched with singletons with similar perinatal histories, gestational age and birth weight, and compared for developmental characteristics. The only significant difference remaining was the age at which the children first talked. By age 3 years, language development was no longer significantly delayed. The results were interpreted as suggesting that developmental disadvantages in preschool twins result from perinatal rather than postnatal disadvantages.

Growth and development of twins compared with singletons at ages five and seven: A follow-up report from the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Child Development Study

ABSTRACT. The growth and development of 24 twins at ages five and seven years were compared with a large group of Dunedin singletons. The physical growth and intelligence of the twins were found to remain disadvantaged at ages five and seven but language development and reading did not differ significantly from that of singletons.