Premature birth was not associated with increased body fatness in four-year-old boys and girls.

Premature birth is a worldwide problem and increases the risk of chronic disease later in life. Prematurely born infants may have a high percentage of body fat at term-equivalent age, but it is unclear if this characteristic is maintained in childhood. Therefore, we compared the size and body composition of four-year-old prematurely born children to such values of full-term controls. Between 2013 and 2015, we assessed weight, height, fat mass and fat-free mass, using air displacement plethysmography in 188 reasonably healthy prematurely born four-year-olds (98 boys). At four years of age, prematurely born children (gestational weeks at birth: 23.3-36.9) tended to be lighter and shorter and to contain less fat mass and fat-free mass than did full-term controls. The gestational age at birth of the prematurely born children correlated positively and significantly (P < .05) with height, weight, body mass index, fat mass (kg, %), fat mass index and fat-free mass (kg) in girls but not in boys. Prematurity was not associated with increased body fatness in our four-year-olds. Our findings are relevant in relation to previously published results showing that premature birth is associated with chronic disease later in life. © 2019 Foundation Acta Paediatrica. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Citation

Elisabet Katarina Forsum, Eva Flinke, Elisabeth Olhager, body composition study group. Premature birth was not associated with increased body fatness in four-year-old boys and girls. Acta paediatrica (Oslo, Norway : 1992). 2020 Feb;109(2):327-331

Mesh Tags

PMID: 31461786

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