Senior children in family oppress development of younger ones
Children, who have the senior brothers and sisters, lag behind in growth of their coevals, who are the only children in family. Such conclusions were made by the employees of the London University College on the basis of a long-term research, with participation of 14 thousand British families.
Scientists have all data about children’s medical examinations, reports on their growth and other parameters of development which were regularly updated within several years.
In opinion of the research’s author David Lowson, the most probable explanation of the revealed pattern is lack of means in large families and shortage of the parental attention. That fact is rather remarkable, that these factors keep the value even in such well provided countries as Great Britain, marks the scientist.
However, the slowed development of younger children in large families can have other reasons. For example, epidemiology and public health care expert from the Imperial college of London does not exclude, that the lowered abilities to growth of younger children can also be explained by mother’s state of health during the pregnancy.