Abstract

URRUTIA S., María Teresa; MARDONES S., Francisco  and  SALAZAR R., Gabriela. Association of maternal body composition near term and new born body composition. Rev. bol. ped. [online]. 2003, vol.42, n.2, pp.135-139. ISSN 1024-0675.

Objective: To study the association between the body composition of women at the end of pregnancy and that of their respective newborn babies. Subjects: 224 pregnant women attending a public hospital in a poor urban area of Santiago, Chile. Methods: Maternal body composition was determined using a deuterium dilution technique to measure total body water as described by Schoeller, fat free mass was calculated using the equations of van Raaji et al. Newborn body composition was estimated using the Dauncey anthropometric method. The association between maternal and newborn body compositions was studied using correlation and multiple regression analyses. Results: The multiple regression models showed that maternal fat free mass, maternal fat mass and gestational age influenced both newborn compartments (p < 0.01), and fat free mass had a greater influence than the other variables. Conclusions: Fat free maternal mass has a greater influence on newborn body composition than the fat mass. This observation is in accordance with other studies revealing an important tole in fetal growth of the maternal total body water and plasma volume expansion.

Keywords : maternal body composition near term; newborn body composition.