Young readers, tomorrow's leaders?

Young children with strong reading skills may be on a fast track to a brighter future, a new study suggests.

Kids with above average reading skills may have higher intelligence levels as they get older, according to British researchers.

The study included 1,890 identical twins from Great Britain who were given reading and intelligence tests when they were ages 7, 9, 10, 12 and 16, NewsMax Health reports.

Because each pair of twins had the same genes and home environment, any differences between them had to be due to factors they didn't share, such as the quality of their teachers or friends who encouraged reading, the researchers suggested.

Differences in reading skills between the twins were linked to later differences in intelligence, including areas such as vocabulary and reasoning. This suggests that even early reading skills may affect a child's intellectual development, the study authors said.

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