A prospective study of the pattern of growth of low birth weight babies from birth to 6 months of age

Introduction: Low birth weight (LBW) is defined as birth weight less than 2500g, irrespective of the period of gestation.

Objectives: To assess the growth parameters and their pattern among LBW babies from birth to 6 months as compared to WHO standards for normal birth weight (NBW) babies.

Method: This was a longitudinal observational study. All admitted newborn babies (inborn and out born) in a tertiary care hospital from 1st November 2016 to 31st October 2017 who met inclusion and exclusion criteria were taken as cases. Serial anthropometric assessments were done at birth and during immunization visits (1½, 2½, 3½ months and 6 months). This was compared against the WHO standards for NBW babies.

Results: The birth weight among the males had a mean of 2390g and among the females a mean of 2163g. The average growth rate was observed to be lower in the LBW babies in the first two months after which the average growth rate increased. The rate of increase in length was always higher among the LBW babies. There was a lag in the increase of head circumference in the first month after which the rate of increase was higher among the LBW babies as compared to NBW babies.

Conclusions: In this study LBW babies had a lag in the growth in the first month after which the rate of growth was significantly higher than in NBW babies.

Sri Lanka Journal of Child Health, 2021; 50(3): 401-407