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The weight for length in late preterm infants assessed with bioelectrical impedance is positively associated with
Elisabet Gómez Santos1, Francisco José López Lorente1, José Ramón Fernández Fructuoso2
1Hospital Juan Ramón Jiménez, Huelva, Spain.
Insights
Late preterm infants have greater fat mass, increasing metabolic syndrome risk. Weight-for-length z-score at 12 months is strongly linked to fat mass index (FMI) in all infants.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Neonatology
- Metabolic Health
Background:
- Late preterm infants exhibit higher fat mass (FM) at 1 month compared to full-term infants.
- This elevated FM may predispose them to metabolic syndrome in adulthood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate body composition (BC) in late preterm infants using bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA).
- To identify anthropometric parameters associated with BC, hypothesizing weight-for-length correlates with fat mass index (FMI) at 1 year.
Main Methods:
- Prospective cohort study comparing late preterm and full-term infants.
- Body composition (FM, FMI, FFM, FFMI) assessed via BIA at 1, 6, and 12 months.
- Multiple linear regression analyzed associations between FMI and anthropometric parameters.
Main Results:
- Late preterm infants showed higher FFM at 1 month and greater weight velocity at 6 months.
- At 12 months, late preterm infants had lower FFM and FFMI compared to full-term infants.
- Weight-for-length z-score at 12 months positively associated with FMI at 12 months in all infants.
Conclusions:
- Weight-for-length z-score at 12 months is a strong predictor of FMI at 1 year.
- Further research is needed to explore if this parameter influences chronic disease risk.
Introduction:
The fat mass (FM) is greater in late preterm than full term infants at 1 month post birth, which may be an additional risk factor for metabolic syndrome in adulthood.
Objetives:
To evaluate body composition (BC) in late preterm infants using bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) to determine which anthropometric parameters are associated with BC. Our hypothesis was that weight-for-length is associated with the length-normalized fat mass index (FMI) at 1 year of life.
Materials And Methods:
We carried out a prospective cohort study in 2 groups: late preterm infants and full term infants. We obtained BC data by BIA. We calculated the fat mass (FM), FMI, fat-free mass (FFM) and length-normalized fat-free mass index (FFMI) at 1, 6 and 12 months of life. After, we assessed the association of the FMI with anthropometric parameters using multiple linear regression analysis.
Results:
The study included 97 late preterm and 47 full term infants, although at 12 months of life, the BC assessment was performed on 66 and 33 infants, respectively. Late preterm infants, compared to full term infants, had a higher FFM at 1 month (4013 vs 3524 g), a higher weight velocity at 6 months (5480 g versus 4604 g) and a lower FFM (7232 vs 7813 g) and FFMI (12.55 vs 13.26) at 12 months of life. The multivariate regression analysis showed that the weight-for-length z-core at 12 months was positively associated with the FMI at 12 months in all infants.
Conclusion:
The weight-for-length z-score at 12 months is strongly associated with the FMI at 1 year of life. Further studies are needed to investigate whether an increment in this anthropometric parameter may modulate the risk of chronic diseases.
