Babies born in a recession ‘have worse health’

Icelandic study finds link between financial crisis and lower than average birth weights

Economic woes can be as damaging to a baby's health as smoking or drinking during pregnancy, according to the first study to establish a causal link between foetal exposure to financial stress in an advanced economy and the health of babies at birth.

Research presented at this month's annual congress of the European Economic Association in Mannheim by Arna Vardardottir, assistant professor at the department of economics at Copenhagen Business School, tracks the unexpected collapse of Iceland's economy in 2008.

The scale of Iceland's collapse, its speed and the fact that it had not been foreseen meant its impact was acute