How babies learn, when, and even in what position_美文

How babies learn, when, and even in what position

One organizer of the study says babies can pay more attention to exploring an object if they do not have to worry about balancing themselves. A report on the study appeared in the journal Developmental Psychology.

Underweight babies born with a shortage of the mineral iron may develop problems with thinking and behavior. Studies have shown that adding iron to the babies’ food prevents developmental problems in more than one-third of those born with an iron deficiency.

Magnus Domellof heads the pediatrics department at Umea University in Sweden. He says low birth-weight babies -- those weighing from 2,000 to 2,500 grams -- look normal. Yet about 30 percent of them are iron-deficient at six months of age. Mr. Domellof says 10 percent of them develop a condition called iron-deficient anemia. He says that as the children get older, iron deficiency can lead to behavioral disorders compared to babies treated with iron supplements.

Mr. Domellof and his team studied 285 low-weight newborns. They gave the babies iron droplets every day for six months. Another group of 90 infants received drops of sugar water that contained no iron.

The boys and girls were examined three years later. Only three percent of those who got iron drops showed behavioral and cognitive problems. But 13 percent of those who got the sugar water had problems. The lack of iron did not seem to affect the results of intelligence tests taken by the children.