Mental Health

Career Length Linked to Birth Weight

By Christine Hsu | Update Date: Apr 13, 2015 05:15 PM EDT

Your career might have been determined in the womb, according to a new study.

After analyzing from the Helsinki Birth Cohort Study, which includes birth and childhood growth information of 13,500 individuals.

Researcher found that 20 percent of participants born between 1934 and 1944 retired on a disability pension between 1971 and 2011 in Finland.

Study data revealed that the leading causes of disability pension are mental disorders, musculoskeletal disorders and cardiovascular diseases.

Further analysis linked low birth weight to a significantly higher risk of disability pension due to mental disorders.

"Early exit from the workforce due to a disability pension might be related to non-optimal growth during the fetal period," researcher Docent Mikaela von Bonsdorff from the University of Jyväskylä, said in a news release.

"The average retirement age of cohort members who retired due to mental disorders was 51, whereas other cohort members were able to work 10 years longer. This is a substantial loss to the economy," added Mikaela von Bonsdorff.

"These findings emphasize that early development and growth has various long-term consequences for public health and the economy. Suboptimal intrauterine development might increase susceptibility to adulthood mental disorders causing early exit from the workforce," said Professor Johan Eriksson, the leader of the Helsinki Birth Cohort Study from the University of Helsinki, according to a statement.

The findings are published in the journal PLoS One.

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