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Journal of the American College of Nutrition, Vol. 21, No. 3, 245-249 (2002)
Published by the American College of Nutrition

Original Research

Body Composition of Newborn Twins: Intrapair Differences

Belinda Koo, MA, Jocelyn Walters, MS, Elaine Hockman, PhD and Winston Koo, MBBS,

Departments of Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Tennessee, Memphis, Tennessee (B.K., J.W., W.K.)
Department of Pediatrics, Hutzel Hospital (W.K.), Detroit, Michigan
Computing and Information Technology, Wayne State University (E.H.), Detroit, Michigan

Address correspondence to: Dr. Winston Koo, Department of Pediatrics, Hutzel Hospital, 4707 St Antoine Blvd, Detroit, MI 48201. E-mail: wkoo{at}wayne.edu

Objective: To measure body composition in newborn twins and to test the hypothesis that differences in body weights between twins are reflected proportionally by their differences in various components of body composition.

Methods: 48 pairs of newborn twins delivered at a tertiary teaching hospital had dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) body composition measurement for bone mineral content (BMC), lean and fat mass (LM, FM). Data analyzed with regression and analysis of variance.

Results: Body weight, BMC, LM and FM increased with increased gestational age (p < 0.001). The percent difference in BW between each twin pair was significantly correlated with percent difference in BMC, LM, and FM (p < 0.001). However, mean (± SD) percent difference in body weight (14.3 ± 10.0%) was significantly lower (p < 0.001) than FM (26.0 ± 15.0%) but was not significantly different from LM (13.4 ± 9.0%) or BMC (15.9 ± 11.6%).

Conclusion: In newborn twins, body weight and body composition varies with gestational age. For any twin pair, a difference in body weight was correlated with but not proportional to differences in individual components of body composition.

Key words: body composition, neonates, twins, growth, bone, lean tissue, fat






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