The Fate and Development of the Immature and of the Premature Child

Abstract

About 55 per cent of immature infants live until the end of the first year; 52 per cent reach the school age, and 51 per cent reach the age of puberty; in other words, the mortality after the school age is not any higher than for mature children. This is not true, unfortunately, of the physical as well as of the mental development of the immature infant.Ylpp\l=o"\, in his calculations, always referred to the conception age, i. e., to the intra-uterine and extra-uterine age of the child. He calculated the intra-uterine age from a fetal weight and length curve, so that when he speaks of a child 5 years of age, and that child was born at the end of seven months of pregnancy, the child's extra-uterine or citizen age is really 4 years and 5 months. I prefer to make my calculations on the basis of the extra-uterine age alone, because when a comparative study is made of the data with measurements of normal children, the latter are also based on the extra-uterine or official age alone.

Effects of Protein‐Calorie Deficiency on Dogs 1. Reproduction, Growth and Behaviour

“…It was found by Garrow and Pike (1967) that children successfully treated for malnutrition had a tendency to outgrow their siblings who, although malnourished, had not needed hospitalization. Weights and heights were very slightly greater and chest widths (as reported by Capper(1928)) significantly greater than those of age controls. The authors 'suggest that the child whose genetic make-up is such that he would grow very rapidly if well fed, will suffer more on a restricted diet than one with more modest demands' and that, following recovery, he might be expected to have a tendency to outgrow his siblings.…”

“…Are the other findings in the experimental animal also applicable? Capper (1928), in describing his series of full-term, immature children, states: 'Of those that remain alive, the majority are physically as well as mentally underdeveloped'. On the other hand, Hess et al (1934) believe that premature babies, provided they do not suffer brain damage at birth, develop normally.…”

Studies in Prematurity. Part 4: Development and Progress of the Prematurely Born Child in the Pre-School Period

“…Hess and others (1934) found that the incidence of conunon contagious diseases of childhood did not differ in premature and full-term children, though there seemed to be a more frequent occurrence of respiratory infections, especially 'frequent colds' and pneumonia, in the premature group. Capper (1928) also found a 77 ARCHIVES OF DISEASE IN CHILDHOOD deraed resistance to infection, especially of the respiratory tact, in prematurely born children, chiefly in the first year of life. Pya examitiom.…”

2500-g Low Birth Weight Cutoff: History and Implications for Future Research and Policy

“…A 1923 study on prematurity used a series of 20 infants with the largest infant weighing only 2098 g (Talbot et al 1923 ) whereas a 1927 study included weights up to 3000 g (Hess and Chamberlin 1927 ). Capper’s ( 1928 ) study used 2500 g but then concluded only 72 % of those <2500 g were premature, acknowledging a demarcation between the definition of low birth weight and prematurity (Capper 1928 ). The heaviest infant in a 1931 study of respiration in premature infants was 2296 g with no definition of criteria for inclusion as “premature” (Shaw and Hopkins 1931 ).…”