Catch-up Growth in Very-Low-Birth-Weight Infants

Abstract

• Clinical correlates of catch-up growth were documented in 182 very-low-birth-weight (VLBW) infants (appropriate if body weight was within 2 SDs of the mean at birth and at corrected ages of 40 weeks and 8,21, and 33 months. Of the 147 AGA infants, 67 (46%) weighed less than 2 SDs of the mean for age at a corrected age of 40 weeks, 40 (27%) at 8 months, 28 (19%) at 21 months, and 25 (17%) at 33 months. Of the 35 SGA infants, 32 (91%) had subnormal weight at 40 weeks, 17 (49%) at 8 months and 21 months, and 16 (46%) at 33 months. Significant correlates of poor catch-up growth in the AGA group were birth weight, gestational age, severity of neonatal complications, poor neonatal head growth, and chronic physical and neurologic sequelae. In the infants in the SGA group, the correlates of poor catch-up growth were birth weight, multiple birth, and social class. (AJDC 1984;138:370-375)