A Multi-attribute health status (MAHS) classification system developed in our institution was applied to clinical and psychometric data collected prospectively at age 8 years on 150/179 ELBW and 145 matched term controls (C) born between 1977 and 1932. The MAHS system describes both the type and severity of functional limitations according to 7 attributes - sensation, mobility, emotion, cognition, self-care, pain and fertility (not applicable here), with 4 or 5 levels of function within each attribute. Each unique combination of levels represents a different health state. Using this approach, 14% of ELBW subjects had no functional limitations, 50% had reduced function for 1 or 2 attributes, and 28% had ≥ 3 attributes affected. The corresponding figures for controls were 50%, 40% and 2% (p<.0001, =.08, <.0001). Notably, the limitations in the ELBW group were in cognition 58%, sensation 48%, mobility 21% and self-care 17%, compared with 28%, 11%, 1%, and 0% for controls (all p<.0001). In general, the limitations were more severe and complex in ELBW children. These results provide a comprehensive description of the health status of ELBW children along several dimensions. The MAHS classification approach is useful to compare the health status of different populations and within groups across time and space. In addition, a utility-function can be applied to the MAHS system to quantify health-related quality of life.