Growth and body composition in the premature infant

Great interest has focused recently on the relationship between early nutrition, growth and subsequent health. Indeed, several studies have demonstrated that early life growth patterns exert programming effects on disease risk in later life, highlighting the key role played by early nutrition. Body composition, an index of quality of growth, is one of the factors apparently involved into this "programming" process. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends to supply adequate amounts of nutrients so that growth and body composition of the preterm infant approximates that of the intrauterine fetus at the same gestational age. However, in clinical practice, the achievement of intrauterine growth rate and body composition is difficult Indeed, most preterm infants experience a significant postnatal growth retardation which can be accompanied by an increased and/or altered adiposity. The estimation of the dynamic features of body composition changes, in order to evaluate the quality, in addition to t he amount of weight gain plays a major role in the nutritional follow-up of preterm infants. Certainly, monitoring the somatic growth and the development of body composition in early infancy represents an extremely important clinical tool in the individualization of the nutritional management, the prevention and/or the recovery from the postnatal retardation and the identification of the subjects at high risk for developing the metabolic syndrome in young adulthood.