Figure 1: Growth curve of extremely low-birth-weight infants
This growth curve was prepared in 1994 by the former Ministry of Health and Welfare Motor and Intellectual Disability Research Group. This was prepared based on the growth of children with no obvious neurological abnormality at a corrected age of one year and 6 months (counted from the due date, not from the birth date) in babies born with a birth weight lower than 1,500 g at 54 facilities nationwide, i.e., children with relatively smooth growth. Before this curve was published, no criteria for the evaluation of preterm infants with a low birth weight were available, and mothers often uttered a sigh looking at the curve of their own child being constantly lower than the growth curve of term infants as presented in the Maternal and Child Health Handbook.
There is large individual variation in growth due to factors including parents’ physiques and child’s physical constitution, such as growth speed. So, the curve only represents the standard. It may be better to refer to changes in the curve not based on the value at one point. If changes in the growth of your child largely exceeds this curve, you can fill in the normal infant growth curve in the Maternal and Child Health Handbook.
Note: Nutritional management while staying in NICU has progressed and changed with advances in perinatal medical care. When the current state is compared with that at the time of preparation of the growth curve, nutritional management starting immediately after birth (including the method of intravenous feeding and enriched breast milk) has markedly changed, and if a curve is prepared from current children in the same state, it may surpass this curve. It may be better to pay attention to these points when you evaluate the growth of your child. If you are anxious or have any questions, please ask the physician following your child at the outpatient clinic.
Takeyasu Igarashi (Pediatric Department, Shizuoka City Shizuoka Hospital)
This growth curve was prepared in 1994 by the former Ministry of Health and Welfare Motor and Intellectual Disability Research Group. This was prepared based on the growth of children with no obvious neurological abnormality at a corrected age of one year and 6 months (counted from the due date, not from the birth date) in babies born with a birth weight lower than 1,500 g at 54 facilities nationwide, i.e., children with relatively smooth growth. Before this curve was published, no criteria for the evaluation of preterm infants with a low birth weight were available, and mothers often uttered a sigh looking at the curve of their own child being constantly lower than the growth curve of term infants as presented in the Maternal and Child Health Handbook.
There is large individual variation in growth due to factors including parents’ physiques and child’s physical constitution, such as growth speed. So, the curve only represents the standard. It may be better to refer to changes in the curve not based on the value at one point. If changes in the growth of your child largely exceeds this curve, you can fill in the normal infant growth curve in the Maternal and Child Health Handbook.
Note: Nutritional management while staying in NICU has progressed and changed with advances in perinatal medical care. When the current state is compared with that at the time of preparation of the growth curve, nutritional management starting immediately after birth (including the method of intravenous feeding and enriched breast milk) has markedly changed, and if a curve is prepared from current children in the same state, it may surpass this curve. It may be better to pay attention to these points when you evaluate the growth of your child. If you are anxious or have any questions, please ask the physician following your child at the outpatient clinic.
Takeyasu Igarashi (Pediatric Department, Shizuoka City Shizuoka Hospital)
