Preschool children born moderately preterm have increased waist circumference at two years of age despite low body mass indexShow others and affiliations
2012 (English)In: Acta Paediatrica, ISSN 0803-5253, E-ISSN 1651-2227, Vol. 101, no 11, p. 1175-1181Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
AIM: To investigate the development of waist circumference (WC) in preschool children born preterm compared with a population-based reference.
BACKGROUND: Children born preterm are reported to be insulin resistant, despite being lean during early childhood. We hypothesize that the mechanism is through increased visceral adiposity.
METHODS: Data from 4446 preschool children (2169 girls/2277 boys) born in 2001-2006 from a population-based study were compared with longitudinal measurements of body mass index (BMI) and WC from a cohort of 152 children (64 girls/88 boys) born moderately preterm in 2002-2004 (gestational age, 32-37 weeks).
RESULTS: In the preterm children, the mean WC was 2.8 cm larger compared with the reference group (p < 0.001) at 2 years of age but not at 5 years of age. There was no significant difference in the mean BMI at 2 years of age. The preterm group was significantly leaner at 5 years of age, with a mean BMI of 15.13 compared with 15.98 in the reference group (p < 0.001).
CONCLUSION: Children born moderately preterm present as lean during early childhood but have an increased waist circumference in infancy, pointing towards a change in fat distribution with more abdominal fat. This may have implications for their metabolic status.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Inc., 2012. Vol. 101, no 11, p. 1175-1181
Keywords [en]
Metabolic syndrome, Prematurity, Waist circumference, Waist-to-height ratio
National Category
Clinical Medicine
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:hh:diva-32299DOI: 10.1111/j.1651-2227.2012.02819.xISI: 000309408200029PubMedID: 22924837Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-84867100895OAI: oai:DiVA.org:hh-32299DiVA, id: diva2:1039948
2016-10-252016-10-252017-11-29Bibliographically approved