Analysis Of Pregnancy And Perinatal Factors Affecting Overweight/Obesity In Premature Infants

OBJECTIVE: To explore the correlation between maternal and perinatal factors during pregnancy of overweight/obesity preterm children, and to provide scientific basis for the prevention of childhood obesity.METHODS: This is a case-control study. We followed up preterm infants delivered at the Peking University Third Hospital from January 2017 to June 2021, compared the differences in pregnancy and perinatal factors between overweight/obese children and normal-weight children.RESULTS: A total of 1,552 preterm infants were successfully followed up in the study, and the cases were divided into a total of 231 cases in the study group (139 overweight and 92 obese) and 1,321 cases in the control group (normal weight) according to the height and weight of the child at the time of follow-up (June-September 2023). In univariate analysis, the pre-pregnancy BMI of pregnant women in the study group was higher than that of the control group (P<0.001), the newborns’ PI in the study group was higher than that of the control group (P=0.007), the ratio of SGA in the study group was lower than that of the control group (P=0.006), and the ratio of exclusive breastfeeding during the first 6 months after birth in the study group was higher than that of the control group (P=0.04), which was statistically different. Logistic regression showed a positive correlation between pre-pregnancy BMI of pregnant women, newborns’ PI, and exclusive breastfeeding within 6 months of birth with the occurrence of overweight/obesity in children, whereas SGA was negatively correlated with the occurrence of overweight/obesity.CONCLUSION: Controlling pre-pregnancy BMI of pregnant women and newborns’ PI can help to reduce the incidence of overweight/obesity of preterm infants in children.