Choose the letter of the implied main idea of the passage below. Developmental psychologist Tiffany Field found that premature babies who were massaged for fifteen minutes
three times a day gained weight about 50 percent faster than a control group of premature babies who were not
massaged and were left in their incubators. The massaged babies also became more active than the control
group. And they became more responsive to stimuli such as faces and rattles, suggesting that their nervous
systems developed more rapidly. The children who were touched were discharged earlier from the hospital.
Also, the medical costs of the massaged infants averaged three thousand dollars less than children in the
control group. Furthermore, the effects were long lasting: Eight months later, the massaged infants performed
better on measures of mental and physical abilities than did the unmassaged babies, and they weighed more as
well.
The costs of medical care for premature babies can be kept down through an inexpensive program of
massage.
One study indicates that premature infants benefit greatly from massage.
Oolo
Active treatment can greatly affect newborn infants in a variety of ways.
According to one study, massage is a highly effective medical treatment.