Motor skill development in babies linked to learning

February 17, 2010 by Shawn Douglas
Filed under: Baby Health, News

The motor skill development of babies has been linked to learning and behavior issues by a major British study.

New research has found that it may be beneficial to monitor the development of motor skills in babies in order to identify those children that may require learning assistance later in childhood.

The Millennium Cohort Study, conducted by the Institute of Education at the University of London, found that young children who didn’t reach key milestones in their motor skill development by year one typically had learning and behavioral problems at age five.

“We found that delay in gross and fine motor development in a child’s first year, which affects about one in 10 children, was significantly associated with delayed cognitive development at age five,” the study authors said.

“Delay in gross motor development also has a significant impact on the child’s behavioral adjustment at five. This additional finding confirms the importance of screening for developmental delay before the first birthday.”

The study focused on 14,853 children born in the U.K. between 2000 and 2001 and conducted research until they reached the age of five. Numerous picture, spatial reasoning and vocabulary tests were used to access cognitive development in the five year olds and the results were compared to previous years. The psychological characteristics of the mother were also gauged to help paint a better picture of the relationship between the mother and her child.

On average, those children that had difficulties with fine motor skill assessment at nine months were five points behind in cognitive ability tests at age five, compared to those that didn’t have problems with their motor skills.

An additional gap was found between those children who were raised in persistent poverty and those that never received “means-tested” benefits. There was an average difference of 11 points on cognitive ability tests between the two demographic groups.

Through the research, the team discovered that there were certain steps a mother could take to help reduce the risk of cognitive delays.

For example, researchers found that those children who were consistently read to at the age of three demonstrated stronger ability on a wide range of subjects at age five. They also discovered that in poorer families, a strong mother-child relationship significantly benefited the child’s cognitive and behavioral development.

The study was commissioned by the Economic and Social Research Council, the U.K.’s leading agency for funding and training in the economic and social sciences.