People who will commit most crime can be predicted by looking at deprivation and brain health in children

A fifth of the population is responsible for four fifths of crime, two fifths of obesity, three quarters of fatherless families and for claiming two thirds of benefits. What’s more, scientists say, you can identify this troublesome group at the age of three.

A 45-minute test rating children on IQ and self-control, combined with information about deprivation and maltreatment, allowed researchers to predict “with considerable accuracy” which would go on to be the greatest burden on the state. The 38-year study may be useful in designing ways to help such children before it is too late.

The research, published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour, used a New Zealand study that followed 1,000 people from birth in the 1970s to the age of 38.