Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jan 26, 2026

Development of a Neonatal Piglet Acute Lung Injury Model Recreating the Early Environment of Preterm Infant Lungs
08:58

Development of a Neonatal Piglet Acute Lung Injury Model Recreating the Early Environment of Preterm Infant Lungs

Published on: October 31, 2025

588

Postnatal growth in preterm infants during the first year of life: A population-based cohort study in China

Leni Kang1, Huiqing Wang2, Chunhua He1

  • 1National Office for Maternal and Child Health Surveillance of China, Key Laboratory of Birth Defects and Related Diseases of Women and Children of Ministry of Education, West China Second University Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China.

Plos One
|April 12, 2019
PubMed

Insights

Preterm infants show faster postnatal growth in weight and length than term infants, particularly in the first six months. However, they may not catch up to term peers until 12 months of age.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatrics
  • Neonatology
  • Child Health

Background:

  • Postnatal growth is a significant concern for preterm infants (born before 37 weeks gestation).
  • Understanding growth trajectories is crucial for optimizing infant health outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the postnatal growth patterns in weight and length of preterm infants.
  • To compare growth rates between preterm and term infants, considering gender differences.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized multicenter longitudinal data from China's Under 5 Child Nutrition and Health Surveillance System.
  • Included 1221 preterm infants and 1221 matched term infants for comparison.
  • Assessed gender-stratified differences in weight and length between the two groups.

Main Results:

  • Preterm infants exhibited higher rates of weight and length growth than term infants, especially from 1 to 6 months.
  • Male preterm infants showed faster growth rates than females in the first 3 months.
  • Differences in weight and length between preterm and term infants diminished with age, but preterm infants did not reach term infant levels until 12 months (unadjusted for gestational age).
  • Median weight and length were higher in preterm infants during the first month post-adjustment for gestational age.

Conclusions:

  • Preterm infants demonstrate accelerated early postnatal growth, with some catch-up growth observed over the first year.
  • Gender influences early growth rates in preterm infants.
  • Gestational age adjustment is important for accurate interpretation of early growth data in preterm infants.

More Related Videos

A Novel Method for Involving Women of Color at High Risk for Preterm Birth in Research Priority Setting14:43

A Novel Method for Involving Women of Color at High Risk for Preterm Birth in Research Priority Setting

Published on: January 12, 2018

12.5K
Isolation and Characterization of Human Umbilical Cord-derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells from Preterm and Term Infants07:26

Isolation and Characterization of Human Umbilical Cord-derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells from Preterm and Term Infants

Published on: January 26, 2019

15.0K

Related Concept Videos

Population Growth00:57

Population Growth

Population size is dynamic, increasing with birth rates and immigration, and decreasing with death rates and emigration. In ideal conditions with unlimited resources, populations can increase exponentially, which plots as a J-shaped growth rate curve of population size against time. This type of curve is characteristic of newly-introduced invasive species, or populations that have suffered catastrophic declines and are rebounding.
28.2K
Characteristics of Life01:23

Characteristics of Life

Biology is a natural science that studies life and living organisms, including their structure, function, development, interactions, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. The field's scope is extensive and divided into several specialized disciplines, such as anatomy, physiology, ethology, genetics, and many more. All living things share a few key traits, including cellular organization, heritable genetic material and the ability to adapt/evolve, metabolism to regulate energy needs, the...
257.7K
Half-life of a Reaction02:42

Half-life of a Reaction

The half-life of a reaction (t1/2) is the time required for one-half of a given amount of reactant to be consumed. In each succeeding half-life, half of the remaining concentration of the reactant is consumed. For example, during the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide, during the first half-life (from 0.00 hours to 6.00 hours), the concentration of H2O2 decreases from 1.000 M to 0.500 M. During the second half-life (from 6.00 hours to 12.00 hours), the concentration decreases from 0.500 M to...
38.8K
The Angiosperm Life Cycle02:39

The Angiosperm Life Cycle

Plants have a life cycle split between two multicellular stages: a haploid stage—with cells containing one set of chromosomes—and a diploid stage—with cells containing two sets of chromosomes. The haploid stage is the gamete-producing gametophyte, and the diploid stage is the spore-producing sporophyte.
72.2K
What is Population Genetics?01:25

What is Population Genetics?

A population is composed of members of the same species that simultaneously live and interact in the same area. When individuals in a population breed, they pass down their genes to their offspring. Many of these genes are polymorphic, meaning that they occur in multiple variants. Such variations of a gene are referred to as alleles. The collective set of all the alleles within a population is known as the gene pool.
64.6K
The Tree of Life - Bacteria, Archaea, Eukaryotes02:40

The Tree of Life - Bacteria, Archaea, Eukaryotes

The “tree of life” describes the evolution of life and the evolutionary relationships between organisms. The root of the tree is the common ancestor to all life on Earth. All other species radiate from this point, much like the branches of a tree. The numerous tips of these branches on the tree of life represent every living, or extant, species. Extinct species, which are species that no longer exist, can be found towards the center of the tree. Currently, these organisms, both...
38.1K