ArticlePediatric research2025
Fat-free mass is associated with neurodevelopment outcomes in extremely preterm infants up to 3 years of age.
Article in Pediatric research, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Extrauterine Growth Restriction in Preterm Infants: Should We Re-Evaluate Priorities?Indian journal of pediatrics · 2026Article
- Body composition at 2 years of age in moderate and late preterm infants.Journal of pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundExtremely preterm infants represent a highly vulnerable population, facing a high risk of growth faltering and adverse neurodevelopment. Despite advances in neonatal care, nutritional strategies to support adequate growth, which is linked to improved neurodevelopment, remain uncertain. Body composition analysis, particularly fat-free mass (FFM), has emerged as a promising tool for evaluating nutritional status, and has been linked to larger brain size. However, its relationship with long-term neurodevelopment, especially in extremely preterm infants, remains unclear.
methodsThe objective of this study was to investigate the association between early body composition changes, growth faltering, and neurodevelopmental outcomes, in a cohort of extremely preterm infants. This study included 105 infants born <28 weeks of gestation between 2017 and 2021, all of whom underwent body composition assessment at term-equivalent age and neurodevelopmental follow-up assessments at 1, 2, and 3 years of age.
resultsFFM Z-Score was significantly and independently associated with higher neurodevelopmental scores up to 3 years of age. In contrast, fat mass Z-Score and growth faltering were not significantly associated with improved neurodevelopmental outcomes through 3 years of age.
conclusionThese findings suggest that early body composition analysis, particularly FFM, may serve as a potential predictor of long-term neurodevelopment. IMPACT: Measurement of body composition, particularly fat-free mass (FFM), at term-equivalent age is associated with improved neurodevelopmental outcomes in extremely preterm infants. This study represents the largest cohort of extremely preterm infants in which FFM Z-Score rather than fat mass Z-Score, was positively associated with neurodevelopmental outcomes at 1, 2, and 3 years of age. Early gains in FFM appear to be critical for promoting favorable long-term neurodevelopmental outcome, underscoring the importance of targeted nutritional strategies.
Identifiers
41219463What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.