The growth assessment of very low birth weight infant at corrected two years old

The aim of this study was to determine the growth status of very low birth infant at corrected age of two years.

This cross-sectional study was performed on all babies with birth weight ≤1500 gr without any congenital anomalies, genetic disturbance and chronic disease (e.g. cardiopulmonary insufficiency, cholestasis, malabsorption). They were called at corrected age 2 years, namely the calendar age by month + (40-gestational age by week). Their height, weight and head circumference were recorded and a nutritional check list was prepared. The values were entered into the WHO Standard Growth Curve Chart for male and female genders (CDC, November 2009) in the <10th, 10-49th, 50-89th and ≥90th percentiles.

Forty-three children with mean gestational age of 30.08±3.23 weeks and mean birth weight of 1163.95±240.77 g were studied. Thirteen cases (30.2%) in length, 10 cases (23.3%) in weight, 6 cases (14%) in head circumference and 17 cases (39.5%) in weight-for-height were below the 10th percentile. There was no significant difference between the sex, gestation age and the birth weight of these children below and above the 10th percentile (P<0.05).

According to the findings of this study, about one-third of infants born ≤1500 grams were below 10th percentile for height, and nearly a quarter of them were under10th percentile for weight at corrected 2 years old. Therefore, their growth should be more accurately controlled by health care centers based on the growth curve in the first year and any problem case should be referred to specialized centers.