Low gestational age at birth and difficulties in school—A matter of ‘dose’

<div><p>Objectives</p><p>Several studies suggest a relationship between gestational age at birth and risk of school difficulties. Our study aimed to investigate the association between the entire range of gestational ages and significant school difficulties measured as 1) More than nine hours per week special educational support and 2) Failing to complete compulsory school.</p><p>Methods</p><p>A population-based register study including all children attending the Danish compulsory school in 2015/2016 and all live-born infants born in Denmark from 1992 to 1997. Data were collected and linked using multiple registers held by Statistic Denmark. Multiple logistic regression analyses were used to estimate the association between gestational age and significant school difficulties, adjusted for explanatory variables.</p><p>Results</p><p>For measurement 1) “Special educational support” 615,789 children entered the analyses after exclusion of those with missing neonatal data. The risk of special educational support increased gradually across the entire range of gestation from 40 to ≤24 weeks: The adjusted odds ratio was 1.07 (95% confidence interval 1.03–1.12) at 39 weeks of gestational and 6.18 (95% confidence interval 5.17–7.39) at gestational ages < 28 weeks. For measurement 2) “Failing to complete compulsory school” the cohort consisted of 374,798 children after exclusion of those who died, had emigrated and/or had missing neonatal data. The risk of failing to complete compulsory school increased across the entire range of gestational ages: The adjusted odds ratio was 1.07 (95% confidence interval 1.04–1.10) at 39 weeks of gestation and 2.99 (95% confidence interval 2.41–3.71) at gestational ages < 28 weeks. In both sets of analyses GA = 40 weeks was used as reference.</p><p>Conclusions</p><p>We confirm a clear association between the degree of prematurity and significant school difficulties across the entire range of gestational ages from ≤ 24 to 40 weeks.</p></div

The two study populations of children who (A) were registered in a Danish compulsory school in the school year 2015/2016 and (B) were born in 1992–1997.

<p>GA indicates gestational age, BW, birth weight and SDS, standard deviation score for birth weight by gestation.</p

The attributable risk and population attributable risk for failing to complete compulsory school after 10 years of education.

<p>Week 40 is used as reference.</p

The percentage distribution of children who (A) received special educational support in compulsory school and (B) failed to complete compulsory school, by gestational age at birth.

<p>The percentage distribution of children who (A) received special educational support in compulsory school and (B) failed to complete compulsory school, by gestational age at birth.</p

Overweight in childhood and consumer purchases in a Danish cohort

BACKGROUND: Prevention and management of childhood overweight involves the entire family. We aimed to investigate purchase patterns in households with at least one member with overweight in childhood by describing expenditure on different food groups.METHODS: This Danish register-based cohort study included households where at least one member donated receipts concerning consumers purchases in 2019-2021 and at least one member had their Body mass index (BMI) measured in childhood within ten years prior to first purchase. A probability index model was used to evaluate differences in proportion expenditure spent on specific food groups.RESULTS: We identified 737 households that included a member who had a BMI measurement in childhood, 220 with overweight and 517 with underweight or normal weight (reference households). Adjusting for education, income, family type, and urbanization, households with a member who had a BMI classified as overweight in childhood had statistically significant higher probability of spending a larger proportion of expenditure on ready meals 56.29% (95% CI: 51.70;60.78) and sugary drinks 55.98% (95% CI: 51.63;60.23). Conversely, they had a statistically significant lower probability of spending a larger proportion expenditure on vegetables 38.44% (95% CI: 34.09;42.99), compared to the reference households.CONCLUSION: Households with a member with BMI classified as overweight in childhood spent more on unhealthy foods and less on vegetables, compared to the reference households. This study highlights the need for household/family-oriented nutrition education and intervention.</p

Surfactant Need by Gestation for Very Preterm Babies Initiated on Early Nasal CPAP:A Danish Observational Multicentre Study of 6,628 Infants Born 2000-2013

&lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;Background:&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/b&gt; In recent years, early nasal continuous positive airway pressure (nCPAP) as respiratory support for preterm infants is being advocated as an alternative to prophylactic surfactant and treatment with mechanical ventilation. A number of infants treated with early nCPAP do not need treatment with surfactant, but few studies provide data on this. Since the 1990s, the first approach to respiratory support to preterm infants in Denmark has been early nCPAP combined with surfactant administration by the INSURE method by which the infant is intubated and surfactant administration is followed by rapid extubation to nCPAP if possible. &lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;Objectives:&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/b&gt; To investigate how often surfactant was administered in preterm infants with a gestational age below 34 weeks treated with early nCPAP as a first approach to respiratory support. &lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;Methods:&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/b&gt; An observational multicentre study including all inborn infants with a gestational age below 34 weeks admitted to 1 of the 4 level 3 neonatal intensive care units in Denmark in the period from 2000 to 2013. &lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;Results:&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/b&gt; A total of 6,628 infants were included in this study. We found that surfactant was administered in 1,056 of 1,799 (59%; 95% CI: 57-61%), in 821 of 2,864 (29%; 95% CI: 27-31%), and in 132 of 1,796 (7%; 95% CI: 6-8%) of the infants with a gestational age from 24 to 27, 28 to 31, and 32 to 33 weeks and 6 days, respectively. &lt;b&gt;&lt;i&gt;Conclusions:&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/b&gt; A large proportion of preterm infants treated with early nCPAP as the first approach to respiratory support was never treated with surfactant.</jats:p

Exclusive breastfeeding: Relation to gestational age, birth weight, and early neonatal ward admission. A nationwide cohort study of children born after 35 weeks of gestation.

ObjectivesPrematurity, being small for gestational age and early neonatal ward admission are the major neonatal conditions that may interfere with breastfeeding supportive practices in infants born at gestational age ≥35+0 weeks. We aimed to investigate the associations between gestational age, small for gestational age, early neonatal ward admission and exclusive breastfeeding at one and four months.MethodsA register-based cohort-study of all Danish singletons with gestational age ≥35+0 weeks born in 2014-2015. In Denmark, health visitors routinely conduct free home visits throughout infants' first year and thereby report breastfeeding data to The Danish National Child Health Register. These data were linked with data from other national registers. Logistic regression models estimated the odds ratio for exclusive breastfeeding at one and four months, adjusted for confounding variables.ResultsThe study population comprised 106,670 infants. Compared to gestational age 40 weeks, the adjusted odds ratio for exclusive breastfeeding at one month showed a decreasing tendency from gestational age ≥42 (n = 2,282) (1.07; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.97-1.17) to 36 weeks (n = 2,062) (0.80; 95% CI 0.73-0.88). Small for gestational age (n = 2,342) was associated with decreased adjusted odds ratio for exclusive breastfeeding at one month (0.84; 95% CI 0.77-0.92). Neonatal ward admission was associated with increased adjusted odds ratio for exclusive breastfeeding at one month among late preterm infants (gestational age 35-36 weeks; n = 3,139) (1.31; 95% CI 1.12-1.54), as opposed to among early term (gestational age 37-38 weeks; n = 19,171) (0.84; 95% CI 0.77-0.92) and term infants (gestational age >38 weeks; n = 84,360) (0.89; 95% CI 0.83-0.94). The associations seemed to persist at four months.ConclusionsDecreasing gestational age and small for gestational age were associated with decreased exclusive breastfeeding rates. Neonatal ward admission was associated with increased exclusive breastfeeding rates among late preterm infants, whereas the opposite was observed among early term and term infants

The Danish National Child Health Register

Aim of the Database: The aim of the National Child Health Registry is to provide comprehensive insight into children’s health and growth on a national scale by continuously monitoring the health status of Danish children. Through this effort, the registry assists the health authorities in prioritizing preventive efforts to promote better child health outcomes.Study Population: The registry includes all Danish children, however, incomplete coverage persists.Main Variables: The National Child Health Registry contains information on exposure to secondhand smoking, breastfeeding duration, and anthropometric measurements through childhood. The information in the registry is divided into three datasets: Smoking, Breastfeeding, and Measurements. Beside specific information on the three topics, all datasets include information on CPR-number, date of birth, sex, municipality, and region of residence.Database Status: The National Child Health Registry was established in 2009 and contains health information on children from all Danish municipalities, collected through routinely performed health examinations conducted by general practitioners and health nurses.Conclusion: The National Child Health Register is an asset to epidemiological and health research with nationwide information on children’s health and growth in Denmark. Due to the unique Danish Civil Registration System, it is possible to link data from the National Child Health Register to information from several other national health and social registers which enables longitudinal unambiguous follow-up