New research will study cardio-metabolic health consequences of late preterm birth
![Feature image](https://healthsci.mcmaster.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/news-size-mom-and-newish-baby-700-x-400.jpg)
Laura Anderson is the Principal Investigator on a three-year CIHR Project grant to study “Late preterm birth and cardiometabolic outcomes in children and young adults: Identifying opportunities for early life interventions.” She will lead a team of co-investigators from McMaster on the project
Laura Anderson is the Principal Investigator on a three-year CIHR Project grant to study “Late preterm birth and cardiometabolic outcomes in children and young adults: Identifying opportunities for early life interventions.”
She will lead a team of co-investigators from McMaster on the project.
The project abstract/summary reads:
“Nearly 15 million babies worldwide are born premature each year and 75% of these babies are now born late preterm (between 34-36 weeks of pregnancy). Although it is well established that children born very premature (<34 weeks of pregnancy) are at increased risk of lifelong health problems, surprisingly little is known about the long-term health outcomes of children born late preterm. Cardiometabolic risk factors (i.e., factors known to be associated with heart disease and diabetes later in life), such as obesity, high blood pressure and elevated cholesterol, which can be measured in early childhood are known to track to adolescence and adulthood and are associated with increased risk of adult onset disease.
“Our study will evaluate the cardiometabolic health consequences of late preterm birth in children and young adults and will explore whether known interventions for preterm birth improve cardiometabolic outcomes. Our first aim is to evaluate the association between late preterm birth and both cardiometabolic risk and growth in children and young adults.
Our second aim is to identify if World Health Organization recommended interventions at birth, such as corticosteroid use and breastfeeding, result in better outcomes for children born preterm to prevent poor cardiovascular outcomes later in life.
We have the unique opportunity to address these aims by linking individual level data on children from three data sources ICES, BORN: Better Outcomes Registry & Network, and the TARGet Kids primary care cohort.
“This project will contribute to our understanding of the health consequences of late preterm birth and identify opportunities to intervene in early in life to reduce lifelong cardiovascular disease risk and improve health across the life-course.”
Centre for Health Economics and Policy Analysis, Collaborations & Partnerships, Funding, Research
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