Growth, Risks of Allergy and Metabolic Syndrome in 6 Year Old Children Born Preterm Compared to Nutrition in the First Four Month After Hospital Discharge

Project background:

The study is based on a follow-up of a cohort of very preterm infants born before week 32, as at discharge from the neonatal departments were randomized to a protein supplement or not while breastfeeding after discharge. If the preterm child was not breastfed, it received a premature infant formula after discharge. Since we have three groups of prematures, which are fed differently after discharge, it is useful to follow up at 6 years of age and specifically examine the following areas:

Metabolic syndrome:

Unlike the past, the survival rate of very preterm infants is now high. Most is expected to survive. The question is the extent to which these children have increased morbidity compared with children born at term, and their quality of life is affected by the fact that they are born prematurely. There has previously been shown a link between children born SGA and later development of type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, ischemic heart disease and cerebrovascular disasters. Too rapid catch-up growth also increases the possible risk of developing metabolic syndrome in the mature child. The question is whether this is also the case in children born prematurely and whether the risk is the same. The problem is just that you want to provide them with adequate amino acids for protein synthesis, as they approach the growth of peers fetuses and also ensure the development of the brain with essential fatty acids, but maybe they can not tolerate a too rapid "catch-up" - growth.

A study comparing preterm born children aged 4-10 years with mature children born of the same age found that the group with preterm births had increased systolic and diastolic blood pressure and higher insulin levels. This was true regardless of whether the children were born SGA and AGA at birth. This concluded that there were metabolic abnormalities in preterm similar to those found in children born at term but SGA. The same article mentions the concept of "fetal programming". This covers a hypothesis which suggests that a fetus at risk in the uterus will adapt best to survive, and this adjustment will be permanent.