Abstract
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Abstract; Introduction Advances in neonatal care have led to the increasing survival of preterm/low birth weight infants worldwide. However, there is limited data on growth outcomes following preterm births especially in low and middle income countries. We assessed the catch-up growth, nutritional status and associated factors of Ugandan children who were born preterm/ low birth weight at Mulago National Referral Hospital.Methods: We enrolled children aged 22-38 months who had been born as preterm with low birth weight and their mothers. Participants were identified and recruited from the follow up clinic for preterm babies discharged from the neonatal unit of Mulago Hospital. Anthropometric measurements for mothers and children were taken. The children’s weight for height z-scores, height for age z-scores, weight for age z-scores, head circumference and mid upper arm circumference (MUAC) were taken and the mothers’ body mass index were generated based on the World Health Organization standards. Results: Of the 251 children and mother pairs recruited, 129 children (51.4%) were male, the mean age was 29.7 months (SD±4.5) and the mean maternal age was 29.9 (SD±5.3). 101(40.1%) of the children enrolled had attained catch up growth on the normal anthropometric measurements for their age. Among the participants, the prevalence of wasting, underweight and stunting was: 8 (3.2%), 36 (14.4%) and 106 (42.2%) respectively. Factors associated with stunting were male sex (AOR 2.36, 95% CI 1.42 to 3.95); p=0.001), maternal age ≤ 25years: AOR 2.27 (95%CI 1.13, 4.52); p= 0.020, and maternal height <150cm: AOR 5.57(95%CI 1.90, 16.94); P=0.002. Associations with underweight in the children were; birth weight ≤1500 gms: AOR 2.38(95%CI 1.14, 4.95); p=0.020 and post-natal hospitalization of more than 14 days: AOR 5.93(95%CI 1.96, 17.90); p=0.002. For 246 (98.8%) participants, MUAC was normal (≥ 12.5 cm) and for 216 (86.8%) the head circumference was within normal range for age.Conclusion: Of the children born preterm/LBW 40.1% of the participants had attained the expected catch up growth at 2 to 3 years of age, 42.2% were observed to be stunted while 14.4% were underweight both higher than the national levels. Targeted interventions are specifically needed for children born with very low birth weight, those requiring long postnatal hospitalization, males and those born to short or young mothers.