INHIBITED GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT AS PERMANENT FEATURES OF LOW BIRTH WEIGHT

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Abstract
A 10-yr assessment of ocular function eye size and other anthropometric parameters indicated a negative influence of low birth weight (LBW). The sample consisted of 302 children with BW < 2000 g and 237 full-term controls. The former group had smaller eyes and there were deficits regarding height, head circumference, interpupillary distance and exophthalmometry readings. On the basis of an 18-yr follow-up study comprising 137 of the above 539, the various LBW deficits proved to be permanent and due not only to delayed development around the age of 10 yr. The menarche appeared later in LBW girls (13.5 yr) than in controls (13 yr). Exophthalmometry readings have led to rejection of one of the presumed classical permanent stigmata of prematurity, ocular protrusion. LBW is an impediment to the overall development of the individual. It also seems to interfere with some of the usual correlations between growth parameters. Males were found to have a more marked growth spurt at puberty than did females.

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