ArticlePaediatric and perinatal epidemiology2025
Association between postterm birth and adverse growth outcomes in children aged 3-6 years: A national retrospective cohort study.
Article in Paediatric and perinatal epidemiology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 3 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.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Association of Gestational Age in a Full Range With Childhood Overweight and Obesity: A Systematic Scoping Review.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2025Article
- Association between postterm birth and adverse growth outcomes in children aged 3-6 years: A national retrospective cohort study.Paediatric and perinatal epidemiology · 2025Article
- Late Arrivals, Early Health Warnings: Post-Term Birth and Adverse Weight and Metabolic Trajectories.Paediatric and perinatal epidemiology · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundGestational age significantly influences children's growth and development. Yet, the effect of postterm birth (gestation beyond 42 weeks) on children's growth outcomes remains underexplored.
objectivesThis study aimed to assess the impact of postterm birth on adverse growth outcomes in children using a nationally representative sample from China.
methodsA retrospective cohort study was conducted in China from 1 April 2018, to 31 December 2019. The final analysis included 141,002 children aged 3-6 years from 551 cities. Postterm birth was defined as children with postterm birth at a gestational age of 42 weeks or more. Obesity, overweight and thinness were assessed using body mass index-for-age (BMI-for-age) z-scores, based on the World Health Organization (WHO) Child Growth Standards. Generalised additive models were employed to investigate the non-linear relationship between maternal gestational age and BMI-for-age z scores. Poisson regression models and subgroup analyses with forest plots were performed to examine the associations between postterm birth and the risks of obesity, overweight and thinness in children.
resultsWe included 141,002 mother-child pairs, of whom 7314 (5.2%) children were classified as postterm births. There exists a non-linear relationship between gestational age and BMI-for-age z scores. Children born postterm exhibited a 46% increased risk of obesity, a 27% increased risk of combined overweight/obesity and a 13% increased risk of thinness. Similar associations were observed in most cases when further sensitivity and subgroup analysis were conducted.
conclusionsPostterm birth was associated with elevated risks of obesity, overweight and thinness in children aged 3-6 years, independent of sex. These findings underscore the importance of further research across diverse populations to understand the implications of postterm births on child health outcomes.
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