Abstract
In Poland, like in other developed countries, 6.3% of babies are born prematurely. Preterm babies suffer from numerous health issues. The aim of the study was to assess body adiposity in preterm children at the beginning of school age. The study population consisted of 61 children aged 5 to 8 years who had been born preterm. We performed standard anthropometric measurements according to internationally recognized methodology. The following parameters were used: Body Weight (BW), Body Heigh (BH), Waist Circumference (WC), Body Mass Index (BMI), Waist to Height Ratio (WtHR), Triceps Skinfold Thickness (TST), Subscapular Skinfold Thickness (SST), Umbilical Skinfold Thickness (UST), as well as total sum of the above parameters, or the Global Adiposity (GA). The anthropometric measurements were taken according to international anthropometric methodology. All anthropometric parameters for body adiposity were significantly lower in the study population than in the reference system. We found a statistically significant relationship between: the number of fetuses and: UST (p = 0.007) and z-score UST (p = 0.030); combined number of unfavorable perinatal events: and UST (p = 0.013) and z-score UST (p = 0.007), GA (p = 0.038) and z-score GA (p = 0.040). Preterm children who are about to start school have significantly lower values of anthropometric features that characterize their body adiposity. In preterm children at early school age number of fetuses diversifies UST; and combined number of unfavorable perinatal events diversifies UST and GA. It is recommended that more studies are conducted on positively oriented modification of body adiposity in these children, as well as its long term monitoring.
Highlights
In Poland, like in other developed countries, 6.3% of babies are born prematurely
The main goal of this study was to determine whether such factors as being born from the first or subsequent pregnancy, one- or multi-fetal pregnancy, term and way of delivery, Apgar score at fifth minute of life and birth weight, combined number of unfavorable perinatal events discriminate value of anthropometric parameters characterizing body adiposity in preterm children assessed before they started school
The values that were below zero for x and Me - the parameters that characterize the z-score - revealed that the study population in general had lower values for Body Mass Index (BMI), Triceps Skinfold Thickness (TST), Subscapular Skinfold Thickness (SST), Umbilical Skinfold Thickness (UST), Global Adiposity (GA) than the reference population (Table 2B)
Summary
In Poland, like in other developed countries, 6.3% of babies are born prematurely. Preterm babies suffer from numerous health issues. The aim of the study was to assess body adiposity in preterm children at the beginning of school age. Children small for gestational age are known to have disrupted signal generation in response to leptin in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus and reduced number of neurons of the satiety center, which results in increase in the amount of food intake Adipose tissue in this group of children is programmed for increased proliferation and storage of fats. Balanced examination of school readiness of children born prematurely, enriched with the measurements of thickness of three skinfolds and waist circumference, could explain the role of selected perinatal factors (unfavorable perinatal events) in differentiation of the values of some anthropometric parameters describing body adiposity[15]
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