ABSTRACT
The postnatal growth pattern of preterm infants is markedly different from that of full-term infants. The American Academy of Pediatrics suggested that the goal for nutrition of the preterm infant should be to achieve a postnatal growth rate approximating that of the normal fetus of the same gestational age (GA).1 However, such a pattern is seldom attained in premature neonates, who almost always show a postnatal cumulative nutritional deficit and a so-called Post-Natal Growth Failure (PNGF) or Extra-Uterine Growth Restriction (EUGR).2,3
There is no consensus among neonatologists regarding the best way to define EUGR. Suggested definitions include a weight-for-age below the 10th percentile of the
reference anthropometric charts at 36-weeks-corrected gestational age,2,4-7 at the time of hospital discharge,8 or at 28 days of postnatal life.5,8 Such definitions are similar to the WHO definition of intra-uterine growth restriction (IUGR), that is a weight-for-age below the 10th percentile for the reference population.9 Makoul et al. describe EUGR as weight standard deviation score (SDS) below –1.88 at discharge (which is equivalent to a weight-for-age below the 3rd percentile).10
