Postnatal nutrition in extremely low birth weight infants and its impact on growth until the age of 6 years

AimTo examine the impact of postnatal nutrition on long-term growth in extremely low birth weight infants. MethodRetrospective analysis of postnatal nutrition and observational study of growth in 52 ELBW infants until the age of six. ResultsChanges () in weight and length standard deviation scores (SDS) between birth to term correlated with protein intake (r(w)=0.36; p=0.009; r(L)=0.35; p=0.01), whereas HC correlated with lipid intake (r(HC)=0.38; p=0.005). Analysis of various intervals (0-2, 3-5, 6-8 and 9-11weeks) only showed significant impact on growth for energy (r=0.3; p<0.05) and lipids (r=0.23; p<0.05) at 6-8weeks. No significant correlations were found between postnatal nutritional parameters and long-term growth. However, postnatal growth restraint was negatively associated with length SDS (r=-0.34; p=0.015) and body mass index SDS (r=-0.34; p=0.018) at the age of six. Infants with postnatal growth restraint (n=25) caught up more in length (+1.78 SDS) than in weight (+0.43 SDS), whereas small for gestational age infants (n=8) caught up more in weight (+1.35 SDS) than in length (+1.07 SDS). This difference remained significant at the age of six. ConclusionAlthough no direct association between postnatal nutrition and long-term growth was found, weight at discharge was a strong predictor for long-term growth.