A comparison of growth measures between 1995 and 2006 for children born <26 weeks of gestation in England
| EPICure 1995 | EPICure2 2006 | 2006 vs 1995 | 2006 vs 1995 | |||
| Mean (95% CI) | Mean (95% CI) | Unadjusted difference in means (95% CI)* | Adjusted difference in means (95% CI)* | |||
| Birth | ||||||
| Weight z-score | −0.16 (−0.25 to −0.07) (n=265) | −0.25 (−0.31 to −0.19) (n=590) | −0.09 (−0.24 to 0.07) | −0.26 (−0.45 to –0.07) | ||
| Head circumference z-score | −0.23 (−0.42 to −0.05) (n=171) | −0.40 (−0.51 to −0.28) (n=291) | −0.17 (−0.43 to 0.04) | −0.44 (−0.74 to –0.13) | ||
| EDD | ||||||
| Weight z-score | −1.73 (−1.86 to −1.60) (n=251) | −1.95 (−2.05 to −1.85) (n=581) | −0.23 (−0.39 to –0.07) | −0.40 (−0.58 to –0.21) | ||
| Head circumference z-score | −0.98 (−1.17 to −0.78) (n=244) | −1.29 (−1.43 to −1.16) (n=552) | −0.33 (−0.54 to –0.12) | −0.60 (−0.86 to –0.34) | ||
| 2.5–3 years † | ||||||
| Height z-score | −0.65 (−0.81 to −0.49) (n=216) | −0.44 (−0.60 to −0.27) (n=301) | 0.21 (−0.00 to 0.43) | 0.14 (−0.13 to 0.42) | ||
| Weight z-score | −1.20 (−1.37 to −1.03) (n=225) | −0.69 (−0.84 to −0.55) (n=316) | 0.49 (0.31 to 0.67) | 0.30 (0.09 to 0.51) | ||
| BMI z-score | −1.07 (−1.26 to −0.88) (n=211) | −0.48 (−0.63 to −0.33) (n=294) | 0.59 (0.36 to 0.83) | 0.58 (0.28 to 0.88) | ||
| Head circumference z-score | −1.65 (−1.84 to −1.46) (n=231) | −1.73 (−1.89 to −1.58) (n=316) | −0.13 (−0.37 to 0.11) | −0.38 (−0.66 to –0.10) | ||
| 11 years | ||||||
| Height z-score | −0.51 (−0.66 to −0.36) (n=175) | 0.10 (−0.13 to 0.33) (n=111) | 0.55 (0.29 to 0.81) | 0.43 (0.11 to 0.74) | ||
| Weight z-score | −0.48 (−0.66 to −0.30) (n=174) | 0.24 (−0.01 to 0.48) (n=112) | 0.72 (0.47 to 0.96) | 0.51 (0.24 to 0.78) | ||
| BMI z-score | −0.34 (−0.53 to −0.14) (n=174) | 0.23 (−0.02 to 0.49) (n=111) | 0.56 (0.24 to 0.87) | 0.50 (0.13 to 0.87) | ||
| Head circumference z-score | −1.35 (−1.54 to −1.16) (n=174) | −1.57 (−1.83 to −1.31) (n=106) | −0.23 (−0.56 to 0.09) | −0.46 (−0.83 to –0.10) | ||
| % (n/N) | % (n/N) | Overweight/obesity vs normal weight Unadjusted RRR (95% CI)‡ | Thinness vs normal weight Unadjusted RRR (95% CI)‡ | Overweight/obesity vs normal weight Adjusted RRR (95% CI)* | Thinness vs normal weight Adjusted RRR (95% CI)* | |
| Overweight/obesity at 2.5–3 years | ||||||
| Thinness | 42.7% (90/211) | 27.9% (84/301) | 1.48 (0.71 to 3.09) | 0.54 (0.37 to 0.79) | 2.85 (1.14 to 7.12) | 0.65 (0.39 to 1.10) |
| Normal weight | 52.1% (110/211) | 62.8% (189/301) | ||||
| Overweight | 4.3% (9/211) | 7.0% (21/301) | ||||
| Obesity | 0.9% (2/211) | 2.3% (7/301) | ||||
| Overweight/obesity at 11 years | ||||||
| Thinness | 27.0% (47/174) | 14.4% (16/111) | 1.31 (0.85 to 2.01) | 0.48 (0.29 to 0.79) | 2.10 (0.86 to 5.12) | 0.59 (0.25 to 1.35) |
| Normal weight | 61.5% (107/174) | 62.2% (69/111) | ||||
| Overweight | 10.9% (19/174) | 18.0% (20/111) | ||||
| Obesity | 0.6% (1/174) | 5.4% (6/111) | ||||
Bold fonts indicate significant differences between the two cohorts.
*Differences in mean z-scores for growth measures between the two cohorts at comparable ages were estimated using repeated measures mixed models. We adjusted for differences in perinatal and demographic characteristics, including maternal age at delivery, ethnicity (white, black, South Asian or other), days to start amino acids, days to start lipids, days to start enteral feeding, breast milk at any time (yes vs no), any postnatal systemic steroids (yes vs no).
†Growth measures corrected for prematurity at 2.5–3 years.
‡RRRs of child overweight/obesity and thinness for EPICure2 2006 compared with EPICure 1995 were estimated using multinomial logistic regression models.
EDD, expected date of delivery; RRR, relative risk ratio.