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Updated: Jul 4, 2026
Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study
Published on: February 2, 2017
Anthropometric measurements and body composition of preterm infants born ≤34 weeks at 12-13 months corrected age as
Apoorva Kutar1, Padmasani Venkat Ramanan1, Kandathil Eapen Elizabeth2
1Department of Pediatrics, Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research, No. 1, Ramachandra Nagar, Porur, Chennai, Tamil Nadu 600116, India.
Insights
Preterm infants born before 34 weeks gestation show significantly lower growth and body composition at 12-13 months corrected age compared to term infants. These preterm infants did not achieve catch-up growth within the first year.
Area of Science:
- Neonatal research
- Pediatric nutrition
- Growth and development studies
Background:
- Infant growth in the first year is nutrition-dependent.
- Current infant feeding practices for preterm infants are extrapolated from term infants.
- The use of corrected age (CA) versus chronological age for preterm infants is unclear, especially for those born ≤34 weeks gestation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare growth parameters and body composition of preterm infants (born ≤34 weeks gestation) with term infants at 12-13 months corrected age (CA).
- To evaluate if preterm infants achieve catch-up growth within the first year when assessed by CA.
Main Methods:
- Evaluated growth of 99 term infants and 170 preterm infants (born ≤34 weeks gestation) at 12-13 months CA.
- Measured anthropometric parameters, including body mass index (BMI) and skin fold thickness (SFT) at four sites.
- Used the sum of SFT as a marker for fat mass.
Main Results:
- Preterm infants had significantly lower weight, length, and BMI at 12-13 months CA compared to term infants.
- Weight-for-age Z-scores, BMI-for-age Z-scores, weight-for-length Z-scores, and fat mass were significantly reduced in preterm infants.
- Preterm infants did not demonstrate catch-up growth by 12-13 months CA, even when using corrected age.
Conclusions:
- Anthropometric measurements in preterm infants (born <34 weeks) at 12-13 months CA were significantly lower than in term infants.
- The study suggests that preterm infants in this cohort did not achieve catch-up growth within the first year, even when using corrected age.
- The multifactorial causes for the observed growth deficits require further investigation.
Background:
Growth in the first year of life depends primarily on nutrition. Currently, the infant feeding practices of term babies are being extrapolated for preterms. While extrapolating, it is not clear if corrected age (CA) or chronological age should be used. In preterm infants, born ≤34 week gestation age, this difference may be more than 6 weeks. We studied the growth parameters and body composition of preterm infants born ≤34 week gestation age as compared to that of term infants at 12-13 months CA.
Methods:
The growth of 99 term infants and 170 preterm infants born ≤34 weeks was evaluated at 12-13 months CA. The anthropometric measurements, body mass index (BMI) and skin fold thickness (SFT) at four sites (biceps, triceps, subscapular and suprailiac) were compared in the two groups. The sum of the SFT was taken as a marker of fat mass.
Result:
At 12-13 months CA, preterm infants had significantly less weight, length and BMI as compared to term babies. The weight and BMI for age Z-scores, weight for length Z-scores and fat mass were also significantly less in preterm babies.
Conclusion:
The anthropometry measures in preterms (<34 weeks) at 12-13 months CA were significantly lower than that of term infants. In our study population, preterms did not catch up in growth in the first year even when the CA is used for comparison. The causes could be multifactorial and need to be studied further.
