title: Overweight, Obesity, and Body Composition in 3.5- and 7-Year-Old Swedish Children Born with Marginally Low Birth Weight.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the prevalence of overweight/obese children and to explore body composition in a Swedish cohort of preschool children born with marginally low birth weight (MLBW, ie, 2000-2500 g).
  
  
  METHODS
  We included 285 Swedish children with MLBW (44% small for gestational age), and 95 control children with normal birth weights. At 3.5 years and 7 years of age, we assessed anthropometrics, including the prevalence of overweight/obese children. At 7 years, dual-energy X-ray was used for body composition.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were no significant differences between groups in the prevalence of overweight/obesity or in skinfold thickness; however, at 3.5 years, mean height, weight, and BMI in children with MLBW were 2.1 cm (95% CI 1.2-3.1), 1.2 kg (95% CI 0.7-1.6), and 0.47 kg/m(2) (95% CI 0.17-0.76) lower compared with controls. The corresponding mean differences also were lower in children with MLBW compared with control children at 7 years; 2.5 cm (95% CI 0.9-4.1), 1.6 kg (95% CI 0.6-2.8), and 0.48 kg/m(2) (95% CI 0.01-0.94). The differences were greater in those born small for gestational age. Dual-energy X-ray analyses showed lower fat-free mass index in MLBW infants and a similar trend in fat mass index. Within children with MLBW, BMI at 7 years correlated positively to growth velocity in infancy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Children with MLBW had lower BMI and did not show increased risk of overweight or obesity up to 7 years. Nevertheless, the BMI in MLBW children was positively correlated to growth-velocity in infancy.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Clinicaltrials.gov: NCT00558454.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Sciences, Pediatrics, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.
authors.forename: Josefine
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lindberg
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatrics, Department of Clinical Science, Intervention and Technology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Mikael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Norman
authors.affiliation: Division of Neonatology, Department of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Björn
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Westrup
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Physics, Danderyd Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Tove
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Öhrman
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Sciences, Pediatrics, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.
authors.forename: Magnus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Domellöf
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Sciences, Pediatrics, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden. Electronic address: staffan.berglund@umu.se.
authors.forename: Staffan K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Berglund
mesh_terms: D015502:Absorptiometry, Photon; D001823:Body Composition; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007230:Infant, Low Birth Weight; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D050177:Overweight / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D063766:Pediatric Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology