2026-10-12T00:16:56Z https://www.scidb.cn/oai

10.57760/sciencedb.j00253.05486 2026-05-29T16:45:31Z

2026-05-29 Effect of postnatal enteral feeding patterns on infant catch-up growth in hospitalized small-for-gestational-age infants doi:10.57760/sciencedb.j00253.05486 en Objective To investigate the influence of early postnatal enteral nutrition patterns on catch-up growth during infancy among hospitalized small-for-gestational-age (SGA) infants, providing evidence for individualized nutritional management.Methods A prospective cohort study was conducted, enrolling 126 SGA infants born at Peking University Third Hospital between January 1 and December 31, 2024, who were hospitalized after birth and followed up regularly at the Children's Health Development Center until December 31, 2025. Data on demography, clinical characteristics, enteral feeding patterns during 0–6 months corrected age, and physical growth parameters (weight, length, head circumference) were collected. Z-scores for weight-for-age (WAZ), length-for-age (LAZ), and head circumference-for-age (HCAZ) were calculated using Chinese growth references. Catch-up growth was defined as ΔZ > 0.67 from birth. Univariate analyses were performed to screen potential factors, followed by multivariable binary logistic regression models to identify independent predictors. Statistical significance was set at P<0.05.Results A total of 126 hospitalized SGA infants were included. The type of enteral feeding at initiation of enteral nutrition was significantly associated with catch-up growth in weight during the 0–3 month period (P<0.05), with the highest catch-up rate observed in the preterm formula group (80.56%, 29/36). Additionally, the enteral nutrition mode during 0–3 months significantly influenced weight gain during the same period (P<0.05), with the highest catch-up rate in the term infant formula group (75%, 12/16). The feeding pattern during 0–3 months also significantly affected weight catch-up between 3–6 months (P<0.05), with the mixed feeding group showing the highest catch-up rate (100%). Furthermore, the enteral nutrition method during 3–6 months significantly impacted linear growth during this period (P<0.05), with the term infant formula group achieving the highest catch-up rate for length (80.0%, 24/30). The feeding pattern at discharge was significantly associated with length catch-up during 6–10 months (P<0.05), with the preterm formula group again showing the highest rate (80.0%, 12/15). The enteral nutrition mode during 3–6 months significantly influenced head circumference catch-up during 6–10 months (P<0.05), with the term infant formula group having the highest rate (70.0%, 14/20). Moreover, the feeding pattern during 3–6 months significantly affected length catch-up during 10–12 months (P<0.05), with the term infant formula group demonstrating the highest rate (58.3%, 7/12). Multivariable binary logistic regression analysis revealed that the enteral feeding pattern during 0–3 months was an independent predictor of both weight catch-up growth (OR=3.802, 95% CI: 1.547–9.345, P=0.004) and length catch-up growth (OR=4.214, 95% CI: 1.201–14.787, P=0.025). Greater gestational age was associated with higher likelihood of weight catch-up (OR=3.300, P=0.027), while fetal growth restriction (FGR) significantly reduced the probability of catch-up (OR=0.022, P=0.005).Conclusions Early enteral feeding patterns in hospitalized small-for-gestational-age (SGA) infants were significantly associated with their catch-up growth during infancy. The critical intervention window was identified within the first 6 postnatal months, particularly within the first 3 months. Term infant formula and mixed feeding demonstrated advantages in promoting comprehensive catch-up growth in weight, length, and head circumference. Exclusive breastfeeding alone may not be sufficient to meet the high nutritional demands of some SGA infants. Based on these findings, it is recommended to develop individualized nutritional strategies tailored to gestational age, birth weight, and growth trajectory. Implementing staged nutritional management is crucial to optimize both short-term catch-up growth and long-term health outcomes for SGA infants. Small for gestational age; Feeding pattern; Catch-up growth; Enteral nutrition; Physical development Mengyuan.Liu Kaihong.Zhao Kunhong.Lin Ying.Zhou Xuyan.Zhao Yan.Xing Tongyan.Han PUBLIC https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ dataset Science Data Bank