Do the effects of being born prematurely linger into adulthood? Researchers examined 242 Cleveland-area children born prematurely between 1977 and 1979, and compared them with 233 children of normal birth weight; 24 of the "preemies" and 12 of the other children were described as being of "subnormal height" as adults. Is this evidence that babies born with a very low birth weight are more likely to be smaller than normal