Advance in postnatal catch-up growth and insulin resistance in small for gestational age infants / 中华围产医学杂志

Small for gestational age (SGA) infants usually result from fetal growth restriction. After eliminating harmful factors, catch-up growth occurs in most SGA as a compensatory mechanism of children's growth and development. Many studies conclude that catch-up growth could lead to insulin resistance early in life. However, the mechanism remains unclear, which results in a lack of clinical intervention to reduce or even avoid insulin resistance. This review sums up studies on catch-up growth and insulin resistance. It describes the possible mechanism of suppressed thermogenesis and catch-up fat, stress, inflammation, DNA methylation, etc., to provide a theoretical foundation for clinical practice.