Introduction: There is no global consensus as to which standards are the most appropriate for the assessment of birth weight and length. Materials and Methods: Analysis was performed on neonatal length and weight data obtained from the Lithuanian Medical Birth Register from to , newborns of 24β42 gestational weeks. The Lithuanian median weight at term was higher than in IG by a full centile channel width, while the median length at term was higher by two channel widths.
The health status of a newborn is reflected by its body size at birth. Therefore, the assessment of birth weight and length by applying appropriate standards not only plays an essential role in good clinical care but is also sustainable with an increasing evidence of preventable adverse growth-related outcomes 1.
When considering neonatal body size, two groups with an increased risk for negative perinatal outcomes and future cardio-metabolic changes have been identified 2 : infants born Small for Gestational Age SGA and infants born Large for Gestational Age LGA.
The WHO expert committee defined SGA as infants born below the 10th centile of birth weight for gestational age and sex specific reference population 3.
Accordingly, LGA is defined as birth weight above the 90th centile. Importantly, SGA refers to both, infants who are constitutionally small and fall within the lower tail of the distribution and those with intra-uterine growth restriction IUGR due to various adverse factors 4.
