The Growth of Different Birth Weight Children: the Longitudinal Auxological Study of Children Born in 1990
Andrėj Suchomlinov, Janina Tutkuvienė
The aim of the present study was to compare growth of different birth weight Lithuanian children from birth up to the age of 17-18 years.
Material and methods. 1535 personal health records of children born in 1990 at Vilnius city and Vilnius region were analyzed. The main body size indices from birth to 18 years, information on maternal and paternal age, ethnicity and occupation, family status, pregnancy and delivery were recorded. Newborns were divided into three groups according to their birth weight: suboptimal (2500-2999 g), optimal (3000-3999 g) and large (>4000 g). Their further growth and factors associated with birth weight were evaluated. The preval ence of overweight and obesity in children was defined according to the International cutoff points for body mass index (T. Cole et al., 2000).
Results. Significant differences in height were established among all three groups - the difference in height at the end of growth was almost 6 cm. The differences between boys’ body mass indices disappeared at the age of 14 years; the differences in BMI of girls remained significant to the very end. Large female newborns had a BMI of 22.20±3.52 kg/m2 at the age of 17 years, that exceeded the average BMI of Lithuanian population of the same age and sex on 1 kg/m2 (p<0.05). Factors associated with birth weight were gestational age, the number of previous deliveries and the age of both parents; no rel ation with either ethnical or socioeconomic factors between children with different birth weight were obtained.
Conclusions. The mothers of large newborns were older, had a longer pregnancy and a history of previous del iver- ies. The differences in body size obtained at birth remained up to the end of the studied period.
Keywords: newborns, birth weight, children growth, longitudinal study, body mass index.
