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
Observational Study
. 2013 Dec 24:2013:108189.
doi: 10.1155/2013/108189. eCollection 2013.

Longitudinal growth and body composition of twins versus singletons in the first month of life

Giulia Paviotti  1 , Angela De Cunto  1 , Laura Travan  1 , Jenny Bua  1 , Gabriele Cont  1 , Sergio Demarini  1
Affiliations
Observational Study

Longitudinal growth and body composition of twins versus singletons in the first month of life

Giulia Paviotti et al. ScientificWorldJournal. .

Abstract

Background: Although twin gestation is well recognized to be associated with impaired fetal and postnatal growth, specific data about body composition of twins in the first month of life are scarce.

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare the body composition of twins, evaluated with air-displacement plethysmography, to that of singletons of similar gestational age and adequacy of growth, during the first month of life. We tested the hypothesis that the quality of growth would be similar.

Methods: Anthropometric and air-displacement plethysmography measurements were performed in 18 pairs of twins and in 36 singleton neonates, longitudinally, from birth to the 30th day of life. Each twin was matched to a singleton infant of similar gestational age and birth weight z-score.

Results: With regard to anthropometric measures, the only difference was a lower weight in twins versus singletons on the 15th day of life. With regard to body composition, we did not find any difference between groups at any time point. Fat mass increased significantly from day 1 to day 30 in both twins and singletons.

Conclusion: In terms of body composition, twins do not differ from singletons of similar gestational age and weight, either at birth or in early postnatal life.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Wells JCK. The programming effects of early growth. Early Human Development. 2007;83(12):743–748. - PubMed
    1. Loos RJF, Derom C, Derom R, Vlietinck R. Determinants of birthweight and intrauterine growth in liveborn twins. Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology. 2005;19(supplement 1):15–22. - PubMed
    1. Buckler JMH, Green M. The growth of twins between the ages of 2 and 9 years. Annals of Human Biology. 2008;35(1):75–92. - PubMed
    1. van Dommelen P, de Gunst M, van Vaart AD, van Buuren S, Boomsma D. Growth references for height, weight and body mass index of twins aged 0–2.5 years. Acta Paediatrica. 2008;97(8):1099–1104. - PubMed
    1. Urlando A, Dempster P, Aitkens S. A new air displacement plethysmograph for the measurement of body composition in infants. Pediatric Research. 2003;53(3):486–492. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources