抄録
“Small birthweight means subsequent rapid growth” is a proverb in Japan. Recent epidemiological studies, however, have indicated a relationship between low birthweight and adult diseases. Timing of adiposity at age of 5.5y, genomic imprinting or programming in uterus, and many hypotheses such as insulin desensitization at birth, accelerated catch-up growth after delivery, thrifty phenotype expression, and fetal salvage mechanisms have thus attracted discussion under controversial circumstances in medical and nutritional journals. I will summarize herein recent progress through prospective and retrospective studies performed after 1990, comparing “small” and “appropriate” for gestational age (SGA and AGA) groups of newborn infants. Finally, a definition of neonatal hypoglycemia and an operational threshold are proposed.
