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
. 2020 Apr;87(5):872-878.
doi: 10.1038/s41390-019-0695-y. Epub 2019 Nov 29.

Sex-specific relationships between early nutrition and neurodevelopment in preterm infants

Anna C Tottman  1 , Frank H Bloomfield  1   2 , Barbara E Cormack  1   2 , Jane E Harding  1 , Janice Taylor  3 , Jane M Alsweiler  4   5
Affiliations

Sex-specific relationships between early nutrition and neurodevelopment in preterm infants

Anna C Tottman et al. Pediatr Res. 2020 Apr.

Erratum in

Abstract

Background: Although early nutrition is associated with neurodevelopmental outcome at 2 years' corrected age in children born very preterm, it is not clear if these associations are different in girls and boys.

Methods: Retrospective cohort study of infants born <30 weeks' gestational age or <1500 g birth weight in Auckland, NZ. Macronutrient, energy and fluid volumes per kg per day were calculated from daily nutritional intakes and averaged over days 1-7 (week 1) and 1-28 (month 1). Primary outcome was survival without neurodevelopmental impairment at 2 years corrected age.

Results: More girls (215/478) survived without neurodevelopmental impairment at 2 years (82% vs. 72%, P = 0.02). Overall, survival without neurodevelopmental impairment was positively associated with more energy, fat, and enteral feeds in week 1, and more energy and enteral feeds in month 1 (P = 0.005-0.03), but all with sex interactions (P = 0.008-0.02). In girls but not boys, survival without neurodevelopmental impairment was positively associated with week 1 total intakes of fat (OR(95% CI) for highest vs. lowest intake quartile 62.6(6.6-1618.1), P < 0.001), energy (22.9(2.6-542.0), P = 0.03) and enteral feeds (1.9 × 109(9.5-not estimable), P < 0.001).

Conclusions: Higher early fat and enteral feed intakes are associated with improved outcome in girls, but not boys. Future research should determine sex-specific neonatal nutritional requirements.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Martin, C. R. et al. Nutritional practices and growth velocity in the first month of life in extremely premature infants. Pediatrics 124, 649–657 (2009). - DOI
    1. Koletzko, B. et al. 1. Guidelines on paediatric parenteral nutrition of the European Society of Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (ESPGHAN) and the European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN), supported by the European Society of Paediatric Research (ESPR). J. Pediatr. Gastroenterol. Nutr. 41(Suppl. 2), S1–S87 (2005). - PubMed
    1. Ehrenkranz, R. A. et al. Growth in the neonatal intensive care unit influences neurodevelopmental and growth outcomes of extremely low birth weight infants. Pediatrics 117, 1253–1261 (2006). - DOI
    1. Embleton, N., Pang, N. & Cooke, R. J. Postnatal malnutrition and growth retardation: an inevitable consequence of current recommendations in preterm infants? Pediatrics 107, 270–273 (2001). - DOI
    1. Kent, A. L., Wright, I. M. & Abdel-Latif, M. E. New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory Neonatal Intensive Care Units Audit Group Mortality and adverse neurologic outcomes are greater in preterm male infants. Pediatric 129, 124–131 (2012). - DOI

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources