Anthropometry and Body Composition of Preterm Neonates in the Light of Metabolic Programming

Area of Science:

• Neonatal nutrition
• Pediatric health
• Metabolic programming

Background:

• Improved survival rates for preterm infants raise concerns about their long-term adult health.
• Early nutrition and growth influence later health outcomes, particularly concerning metabolic programming.
• Catch-up growth in early life is a key factor linking preterm infant nutrition to later adiposity and obesity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review current methods for evaluating catch-up growth in preterm infants, focusing on timing and rate.
• To explore the association between different catch-up growth patterns and later health outcomes, including body composition and obesity.
• To identify gaps in knowledge and suggest future research directions for optimizing catch-up growth in preterm infants.

Main Methods:

• A comprehensive literature review was conducted.
• Studies focusing on catch-up growth evaluation, timing, and rate were assessed.
• Research on body composition and its relation to catch-up growth patterns was analyzed.

Main Results:

• Conflicting results exist regarding the impact of early versus late, and rapid versus slow, catch-up growth on later health.
• Lack of established criteria and definitions for catch-up growth contributes to study variability.
• Adequate early growth is crucial for neurodevelopment but may pose risks to adiposity and metabolic health.

Conclusions:

• Catch-up growth in preterm infants is critical for neurodevelopment but its impact on long-term health, particularly adiposity, requires further investigation.
• Standardized, universally accepted criteria for evaluating catch-up growth are needed.
• Future research should focus on defining optimal catch-up growth strategies to balance neurodevelopmental needs with metabolic health in preterm infants.