Gestational age and trajectories of body mass index and height from birth through adolescence in the Danish National Birth Cohort.

ABSTRACT: Preterm birth is associated with smaller body dimensions at birth. The impact on body size in later life, measured by body mass index (BMI) and height, remains unclear. A prospective register-based cohort study with 62,625 singletons from the Danish National Birth Cohort born 1996-2003 for whom information on gestational age (GA) at birth, length or weight at birth, and at least two growth measurements scheduled at the ages of 5 and 12 months, and 7, 11 and 18 years were available. Linear mixed effects with splines, stratified by sex, and adjusted for confounders were used to estimate standardised BMI and height. GA was positively associated with BMI in infancy, but differences between preterm and term children declined with age. By age 7, preterm children had slightly lower BMI than term

SUBMITTER: Vinther JL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9968714 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature