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A team of international researchers has carried out the study and found the link between birth weight and mental health, supporting the theory that conditions in the womb have an effect on future development, the Science Daily reported.
According to lead researcher Ian Colman, "We found that even people who had just mild or moderate symptoms of depression or anxiety over their life course were actually smaller babies than those who had better mental health. It suggests a dose-response relationship. As birth weight progressively decreases, it is more likely that an individual will suffer from mood disorders later in life.
In fact, Colman of the University of Alberta in Canada and his fellow researchers at the University of Cambridge and University College London in Britain came to the conclusion after analysing a survey which tracked over 4,600 Britons born in 1946 for symptoms of depression over a 40-year period.
The connection between birth weight and mental health is not the only fascinating find made by the researchers.
"One of the surprising findings from our research was that people who had worse mental health throughout their lives had also reached developmental milestones -- like standing and walking for the first time -- later in life than those who had better mental health," Colman said.
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