Factors Influencing Body Composition of Premature Infants at Term‐Adjusted Age
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Abstract: We investigated the influence of body size at birth, feeding of mother's milk versus formula, or standard‐term formula versus energy‐ or nutrient‐enriched formula on the growth and whole body bone mineral content (BMC), lean and fat mass (using dual‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry) of low‐birth‐weight (LBW) infants to term‐adjusted age. LBW infants who were appropriate for gestational age were lighter and shorter than term‐born infants (n= 46) but had a higher percent fat mass (19–28% vs. 15 ± 7%). For LBW infants fed standard formula or mother's milk after hospital discharge, the mean BMC expressed either as a function of weight (17 ± 2, 19 ± 2 vs. 20 ± 2 g/kg) or length (1.1 ± 0.2, 1.1 ± 0.2 vs. 1.5 ± 0.2 g/cm) was more than 1 SD below term infant values. However, infants fed a nutrient‐enriched formula from hospital discharge had BMC within 1 SD below term infants. Infants who were born small, compared to appropriate for gestational age, compared to infants of similar birth weight had lower percent body fat (16 ± 6 vs. 19 ± 5) and lower BMC (47 ± 3 vs. 62 ± 5 g) at term age. Both size at birth and diet influence patterns of growth and body composition in early life in very‐low‐birth‐weight (VLBW) infants. The long‐term significance of these variable growth patterns in VLBW infants in early life requires further investigation.
