The research looked at the health of more than 18,000 British babies at nine months, three and five years of age.
They charted the children’s height, weight and BMI, and questioned parents on whether they had ever had to attend hospital or take prescribed medications for illnesses.
The researchers from the universities of Leicester, Liverpool, Oxford, Warwick and the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit, found the earlier a child was born, the more likely it was to suffer a range of health problems.
Being born between one and seven weeks early was identified as the greatest indicator of illness at the ages of both three and five.
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