Accelerated neonatal gain in weight relative to length after preterm birth (immediately after birth and during the first 3 months after term age) is associated with determinants of CVD in early adulthood and should therefore be avoided.

Young adults born preterm might have a higher risk for CVD than those born term.

In our cohort of 455 young adults, preterm birth was associated with more total fat mass, trunk fat, and limb fat mass but a relatively favorable lipid profile.

Objective: Previous studies showed conflicting data on the effect of prematurity on bone mineral density (BMD) in infants and children. Only a few studies investigated the long-term effects of prematurity on BMD in early adulthood. The objective of our study was to assess the long-term effects of preterm birth on BMD of the total body (BMD TB ), lumbar spine (BMD LS ) and bone mineral apparent density of the LS (BMAD LS ). Design: Cross-sectional study. Methods: It consists of two hundred and seventy-six healthy subjects without serious postnatal complications, aged 18-24 years. The contribution of gestational age to the variance in BMD in young adulthood and the differences in BMD between 151 subjects born preterm (median gestational age 32.2 weeks (interquartile range (IQR) 30.3-34.0)) and 125 subjects born at term (median gestational age 40.0 weeks (IQR 39.0-40.0)) were investigated. BMD was determined by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Results: There were no significant linear correlations between gestational age and BMD TB (rZ0.063, PZ0.30), BMD LS (rZ0.062, PZ0.31) and BMAD LS (rZ0.069, PZ0.26). Also after adjustment for possible confounders, gestational age was no significant contributor to the variance in BMD TB (PZ0.27), BMD LS (PZ0.91) and BMAD LS (PZ0.87). No significant differences were found between preterm and term subjects with regard to BMD TB , BMD LS and BMAD LS . Conclusion: In our cohort of 276 young adults, aged 18-24 years, gestational age was not a significant determinant in the variance of BMD. Preterm birth without serious postnatal complications is not associated with a lower BMD in young adulthood.

Body composition and fat distribution of previously GH-treated SGA adults was similar to that of untreated SGA-S adults. GH-induced catch-up growth has no unfavorable effect on FM and fat distribution compared with spontaneous catch-up growth. However, our study shows that SGA adults in general may have a different body composition than healthy AGA controls.