Children born small for gestational age (SGA) who fail to achieve catch up growth by 2-8 years of age are short from infancy to adulthood. Data from a cross-sectional study of 486 Spanish children.

AIMS AND METHODS

Postnatal growth was evaluated in a cross-sectional study of 486 Spanish children, 241 girls and 245 boys, born small for gestational age (SGA), without height catch-up growth between the ages of 2 and 8 years [height <-2SD of age- and sex-matched controls born appropriate for gestational age (AGA)]. SGA was defined as birth weight and/or length values <-2SD of those of the born AGA control population. Weight and height values were grouped in 0.5+/-0.15-year intervals from birth to adult height and compared with those of age- and sex-matched controls born AGA. A total of 1,985 height measurements were recorded in girls and 2,113 in boys. Adult or near-adult height was reached in 50 girls and 42 boys. Mean, SD and mean Z-score values at each age interval were calculated. Dysmorphic syndromes and chronic illnesses were excluded.

RESULTS

Mean height Z-score values ranged from -5.56 to -3.12 during the first two years of life and remained between -5.25 and -2.42 thereafter until adult height, and mean weight Z-score values ranged from -3.66 to -2.26 from birth to two years of age and remained between -3.05 and -0.94 thereafter until adult height. Mean Z-score values of near-adult or adult height were -2.83 in girls (n=50) and -2.74 in boys (n=42). Midparental adult height corrected for sex was -1.45 +/- 0.5 in girls (n=150) and -1.60 +/-0.6 in boys (n=185). Height +2SD values of SGA children were similar to -2SD values of age- and sex-matched AGA controls (non statistically significant).

CONCLUSIONS

Our data show that short children born SGA are shorter than children born AGA from the age of two years onwards and that their adult height is below that of their corresponding midparental height by more than 1 SD.