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Postnatal Growth Faltering: Growth and Height Improvement at Two Years in Children with Very Low Birth Weight between

Lara González-García1, Laura Mantecón-Fernández2,3, Marta Suárez-Rodríguez2,3

  • 1Pediatrics Department, Hospital Álvarez-Buylla, 33600 Mieres, Spain.

Children (Basel, Switzerland)
|December 23, 2022
PubMed

Insights

Postnatal growth faltering in very low birth weight (VLBW) infants has decreased over the past two decades. Improved neonatal care has led to better growth rates and increased height by age two.

Area of Science:

  • Neonatology
  • Pediatric Growth and Development

Background:

  • Postnatal growth faltering (PGF) is a significant challenge for preterm infants with very low birth weight (VLBW).
  • Optimized neonatal care is anticipated to improve growth outcomes in this vulnerable population.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To assess trends in PGF prevalence and 2-year height outcomes for appropriate-for-gestational-age VLBW infants over the last 20 years.
  • To determine if improvements in neonatal care have positively impacted growth trajectories.

Main Methods:

  • Retrospective analysis of neonatal somatometry data for VLBW preterm infants (excluding small-for-gestational-age).
  • Comparison of two cohorts: 2002–2006 (n=112) and 2013–2017 (n=92).
  • Data included birth measurements and corrected age at two years.

Main Results:

  • A significant decrease in PGF prevalence was observed in the later cohort (36.6% vs. 22.8%, p=0.033).
  • Neonatal growth rate in the first 28 days significantly increased (5.22 vs. 11.38 g/kg/day, p<0.0001).
  • Height standard deviation at 2 years improved (–1.12 vs. –0.74, p=0.023), with higher early weight gain linked to reduced short stature risk.

Conclusions:

  • Growth in VLBW preterm infants has demonstrably improved over the last two decades.
  • Enhanced neonatal care strategies have led to better growth during the neonatal period and improved height outcomes at two years of age.

Keywords:
extrauterine growth restrictioninfant prematurevery low birth weight

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