Incomplete catch‐up growth in low birthweight Chinese infants in Hong Kong

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Abstract
Objective: To describe the early catch‐up growth in length in Chinese low birthweight (>2500g) infants.Methodology: The infants (n= 181) were delivered between 1988 and 1993 and followed up at Queen Mary and Tsan Yuk Hospitals, Hong Kong. One third had a birthweight below ‐2SDS, most of whom were term or close‐to‐term babies small‐for‐gestational‐age (SGA). The remaining babies were appropriate‐for‐gestational‐age (AGA) in birthweight, but frequently born prematurely.Results: The SGA group did not show a catch‐up growth in height comparable to that reported on other recent studies, as 33–35% of the patients were still short at 6 and 12 months (7–12% for the AGA group). When comparing the postnatal mean growth curve of the SGA group with the mean curve of the AGA group there was little sign of catch‐up growth.Conclusions: The results showed that Hong Kong SGA infants have an incomplete catch‐up growth and for successful intervention the causative mechanisms have to be identified.