Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 15, 2025
Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study
Published on: February 2, 2017
The criteria to classify body-proportionality of the small for gestational age newborn: a scoping review
Aziz Berkay Karadavut1, Ilke Smits1, Jeroen van Dillen2,3
1Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, Radboud Institute of Health Sciences, Amalia Children's Hospital, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Purpose:
To create an overview of the criteria used to classify small for gestational age (SGA) newborns according to their body-proportionality as either asymmetric SGA or symmetric SGA, and to create an overview of the clinical outcomes related to body-proportionality.
Methods:
A scoping review was conducted using PubMed, Embase and the Cochrane Library databases. Studies were included if they described SGA newborns regardless of gestational age and if their classification on body-proportionality was given for both aSGA and sSGA. Data were screened and extracted by two independent reviewers.
Results:
Of the 38,265 studies identified after deduplication, 45 were included. Body-proportionality was classified by the ponderal index (PI) in 55.6% of studies (n = 25), head circumference (HC) in 24.4% (n = 11), birth length in 11.1% (n = 5), birth length and HC in 4.4% (n = 2), birth length and PI in 2.2% (n = 1), and PI, brain-to-body ratio and HC/length ratio in 2.2% (n = 1). The most commonly reported outcomes were asphyxia, hyperbilirubinemia, hypoglycemia, mortality and respiratory distress syndrome. The results regarding the outcomes were inconsistent and contradictory.
Conclusion:
Large heterogeneity in the published classifications and clinical outcomes regarding body-proportionality in the SGA newborns exists. Consensus on terms, methods and cut-off values used for body-proportionality is needed to improve future comparison of study results.
