DYNAMIC CHANGES OF BODY MASS INDEX IN INFANTS WITH
LOW BIRTH WEIGHT
Huang Yonglan, Liu Qianjun, Yang Yueyue
Women and Children’s Hospital of
Guangzhou, Guangzhou, China
Objective: To study the dynamic changes of body mass index (BMI) in
infants with low birth weight (LBW), so as to explore if there is a
potentiality of obesity in those infants.
Methods: The heights and weights were measured exactly at birth, 6th
month, 9 month and 1 year after birth respectively in 32 LBW infants and 56
normal birth weight (NBW) infants. Then BMI was calculated and correlative
analyses were done between BMI at 1year and height, weight, BMI at birth,
parents’ heights, weights and their educational level.
Results: In infants with NBW, the BMI at 1 year after birth was
correlated positively to the BMI, weight and height at birth(r=0.315,
0.370, 0.339, respectively, p<0.05), but not significantly related to
parents’ height, weight and educational level. The level of BMI is the
highest at 6 month, and then decreases significantly at 9 month (P<0.01)
and 1year (p<0.05) after birth. The average of BMI in infants with LBW
were 10.79±0.75，16.36±1.17，16.10±1.22 and 15.48±1.16 at birth, 6 month, 9 month and 1 year
after birth, respectively, which were significantly lower than those in
infants with NBW except at 9 month (the corresponding BMI were 12.7±0.94，17.23±1.4， 16.83±1.18 , 16.66±1.29 in
latter group, P<0.01).
Conclusions: There was a potential of catching up with in BMI at 6 month
after birth in infants with LBW. But their BMI was still significantly
lower than those of infants with NBW except at 9 month, which indicated
that there was no potentiality of obesity during the first year after birth
in infants with LBW. .