Does low body fat percentage in neonates greater than the 5th percentile birthweight increase the risk of hypoglycaemia and neonatal morbidity?

AIM: Low body fat percentage (BF%) has been shown to predict morbidity and possible hypoglycaemia in newborns. Hypoglycaemia in neonates is associated with significant neonatal morbidity. Early detection and prevention are critical. To identify if low BF% (>1 standard deviation below the mean) in non-small-for-gestational-age neonates (>5th percentile body weight) increases the risk of short-term morbidity, with specific attention to hypoglycaemia.

METHODS

All term neonates who had their BF% measured as part of the Newborn Early Assessment Programme between 28 January 2014 and 9 August 2016 were included in the study. Neonates whose weight was below the 5th percentile and neonates of diabetic mothers were excluded as blood sugar level monitoring is routinely performed on these babies. Neonatal morbidity and blood sugar levels were obtained from electronic records, and the individual patient's paper records were reviewed. A composite score for neonatal morbidity (poor feeding AND hypothermia AND prolonged length of stay) was calculated. Statistics were analysed using SPSS.

RESULTS

A total of 247 neonates met the inclusion criteria (3.3% of total births). Hypoglycaemia was found in 8.5% of the study population. The risk of hypoglycaemia did not change significantly in neonates with birthweight of the 5th-10th percentile and >10th percentile (8 vs. 8.8%); 4.9% of babies met the combined morbidity criteria.

CONCLUSIONS

Non-small-for-gestational-age babies (>5th percentile) with low BF% are at risk of hypoglycaemia and short-term morbidity. These infants will not be identified by current hypoglycaemia screening methods in centres that do not measure BF%.