Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2012 Feb;17(2 Suppl 1):S131-6.

Comparison of neonatal growth in normal, low and very low birth weights until 18 months

Sohaila Ehsanpour  1 , Elaheh Hemmati, Zahra Abdeyazdan
Affiliations

Comparison of neonatal growth in normal, low and very low birth weights until 18 months

Sohaila Ehsanpour et al. Iran J Nurs Midwifery Res. 2012 Feb.

Abstract

Background: Birth weight is considered as the most important index of neonates' growth as well as the most important determinant of infants' mortality. This study was conducted to investigate the growth pattern in normal, low and very low birth weight neonates for 18 months in the health care centers of Isfahan, Iran.

Materials and methods: In a cross-sectional and retrospective study, 214 neonates (90 with normal, 90 with low and 34 with very low birth weights) were enrolled in the health care centers of Isfahan and their growth in the 2(nd), 4(th), 6(th), 9(th), 12(th), 15(th) and 18(th) months were investigated. The data collection tool was a 3-part questionnaire which was validated using content validity. A part of data was completed based on the health file of the family.

Findings: The mean of weight, height and head circumference in the months 2, 4, 6, 9, 12 and 15 in the three groups with normal, low and very low birth weights were significantly different. In the ages of 6, 15, 12 and 18 months, there was the highest frequency of horizontal trend in the growth pattern of children in the three groups. In the growth rate of neonates with low birth weight, there was the highest frequency of horizontal trend at the age of 12 months and there was the highest frequency of descending trend in the 15(th) months.

Conclusions: The findings showed that according to National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) percentiles, low and very low birth weight infants had lower growth in weight, length and head circumference compared to normal birth weight infants. Therefore, special attention should be given to healthcare and post-birth growth surveillance of these two groups to maintain and improve the health level of them.

Keywords: Neonate; children; growth surveillance; low birth weight; very low birth weight.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: None declared.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Marcdante K, Kliegman RM, Behrman RE, Jenson HB. Nelson Essentials of Pediatrics. 6th ed. Philadelphia: Elsevier Health Sciences; 2010. p. 13.
    1. Reza Soltanie P, Parsaee S. Mother and Child’s Health. Tehran: Sanjesh Publication; 2006.
    1. Nelson WE. Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics. 18th ed. Philadelphia: Saunders; 2007.
    1. Ball J, Bindler RM, Bindler RC, Cowen KJ. Child health nursing: partnering with children & families. Chicago: Pearson; 2009.
    1. Van Der Mei J, Volmer M, Boersma ER. Growth and survival of low birthweight infants from 0 to 9 years in a rural area of Ghana. Comparison of moderately low (1,501–2,000 g) and very low birthweight (1,000–1,500 g) infants and a local reference population. Trop Med Int Health. 2000;5(8):571–7. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources