Children Born After COVID-19 Show Declines in Physical and Cognitive Abilities [Reading Science]

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[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] The COVID-19 pandemic has been found to have adversely affected the physical and emotional development of newborns. In fact, a study revealed that their IQ scores are on average two levels lower compared to those born before the pandemic.

According to the international academic journal Nature on the 17th, a research team from the University of Calgary in Canada surveyed over 8,000 pregnant women during the pandemic period and found that nearly half experienced anxiety symptoms, and one-third reported symptoms of depression?significantly higher rates than before. In particular, when the team conducted MRI scans and analyzed the brains of 75 three-month-old infants, they confirmed that babies born to mothers who experienced more severe anxiety and depression had weaker connections in the amygdala and prefrontal cortex. The amygdala is responsible for emotion processing, while the prefrontal cortex is a critical area for executive functions.

Researchers at the NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital in New York City also recently confirmed that infants born after the pandemic lag behind previous cohorts in physical abilities such as muscle mass and communication skills including language. A team from Brown University reached similar conclusions by investigating how recent environments have affected children’s brain development using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and other tools. They have been consistently testing children’s muscle development and visual and language abilities over the past seven years and discovered that after the pandemic, children took noticeably longer to solve test problems.

In particular, reviewing the average annual scores and their trends, they confirmed that children’s scores have significantly worsened since the pandemic. Professor Sean Deoni of Brown University stated, “The differences began to appear prominently from late 2020 to early 2021,” adding, “When taking tests similar to IQ tests, children born after the pandemic scored nearly two levels lower than those born before.” The decline was especially pronounced among children born into low-income families, and boys showed a greater decrease than girls. Among the categories, gross motor skills suffered the most significant impact.

As the COVID-19 pandemic has lasted over two years, concerns are growing worldwide that it has negatively affected children’s physical and mental development. Pregnant women experiencing stress due to the infectious disease may have adversely influenced fetal brain development in some children. Additionally, parents and caregivers exhausted by the pandemic may have interacted less with their young children or provided less attentive care, potentially harming their physical and mental development. A child development expert in the United States said, “Everyone wants to know and is worried about how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected child development and parents.” Lack of social interaction has also been pointed out as a factor. In fact, a study in the United Kingdom surveying children aged 8 months to 3 years found that those who received group care during the pandemic had better executive and language skills than those cared for alone at home.

It remains unclear whether these phenomena will lead to “lifelong gaps.” However, the prevailing view is that these effects will soon be overcome. For example, a study in Romania showed that girls born as orphans but adopted before 2.5 years old were less likely to experience psychiatric problems by age 4.5 compared to those who remained in care facilities. Although the situation is somewhat different, this suggests that once the pandemic ends, younger children can overcome the difficulties they have faced and compensate for developmental delays.

However, Nature points out that prolonged pandemic conditions pose serious problems. Professor Deoni emphasized, “We must remember that experiences during the first 1,000 days of life have a tremendous impact on a child’s entire life,” adding, “Children born after the pandemic began are now about 650 days old, so they need more stimulation, play, reading, and love.”