Children who are encouraged to read for pleasure from an early age have a markedly rich vocabulary in adult life, compared to their peers who may not have had the same level of support.

This is according to a new study from the University of London's Institute of Education, which found those who read frequently in their youth scored higher in reading tests than those who read infrequently.

In its analysis of vocabulary assessments of 9,400 people at the ages of 10, 16 and 42, the team discovered that those who read for enjoyment at the age of 10 scored, as an average, 67 per cent in the age 42 test, whereas those who didn't scored 51 per cent.

"The long-term influence of reading for pleasure on vocabulary that we have identified may well be because the frequent childhood readers continued to read throughout their 20s and 30s," researchers Professor Alice Sullivan and Matt Brown said in a joint statement.

"In other words, they developed 'good' reading habits in childhood and adolescence that they have subsequently benefited from."

Other interesting findings emerging from the study include readers of "quality newspapers" – in other words broadsheets – demonstrate better vocabulary than those who do not read newspapers (including online versions).

Interestingly, those who read tabloids on a regular basis demonstrated slower progress in terms of developing their vocabulary than those who do not read newspapers (again, including online alternatives).

"A number of these findings are intriguing," said Professor Sullivan. "It was interesting, for example, to find that readers of tabloid newspapers did less well in the age 42 vocabulary tests than those who didn't take a newspaper.

"This is, however, in line with our previous work which showed that the presence of tabloid newspapers in the home during childhood was linked to poor cognitive attainment at age 16."