Table 3.
Effects of choline supplementation on gestational age and somatic growth
| Treatment group
|
t or Fa | d | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Choline
|
Placebo
|
|||
| (n = 31) | (n = 31) | |||
| Birth | ||||
| Gestational age (weeks) | 38.8 | 38.9 | 0.28 | 0.05 |
| (1.6) | (2.5) | |||
| Weight (g) | 2852.7 | 2844.2 | 0.06 | 0.02 |
| (450.9) | (658.0) | |||
| Weight-for-age z-scoreb | −1.0 | −1.1 | 0.21 | 0.05 |
| (1.1) | (1.5) | |||
| Weight-for-age percentileb | 25.9 | 28.3 | 0.32 | 0.08 |
| (25.2) | (31.6) | |||
| Length (cm) | 47.2 | 48.9 | 1.82† | 0.49 |
| (3.3) | (3.7) | |||
| Length-for-age z-scoreb | −1.2 | −0.4 | 1.61 | 0.32 |
| (1.8) | (2.0) | |||
| Length percentileb | 30.6 | 47.1 | 1.75† | 0.45 |
| (34.2) | (38.7) | |||
| Head circumference (cm) | 32.6 | 33.0 | 1.00 | 0.24 |
| (1.5) | (1.9) | |||
| Head circumference-for-age z-scoreb | −1.2 | −1.0 | 0.66 | 0.14 |
| (1.2) | (1.5) | |||
| Head circumference percentileb | 23.8 | 30.9 | 0.99 | 0.25 |
| (24.4) | (31.6) | |||
| 6.5 months | ||||
| Weight (kg) | 7.5 | 7.3 | 0.80 | 0.19 |
| (1.0) | (1.1) | |||
| Weight-for-age z-scoreb | −0.4 | −0.8 | 2.81† | 0.26 |
| (1.2) | (1.3) | |||
| Weight percentile | 43.8 | 27.1 | 5.76* | 0.52 |
| (32.4) | (31.5) | |||
| Length (cm) | 64.9 | 64.3 | 1.04 | 0.24 |
| (2.6) | (2.5) | |||
| Length-for-age z-scoreb | −1.1 | −1.7 | 6.28* | 0.56 |
| (1.1) | (1.2) | |||
| Length percentile | 23.7 | 15.3 | 2.23 | 0.36 |
| (23.4) | (23.0) | |||
| Head circumference (cm) | 42.6 | 42.2 | 1.45 | 0.29 |
| (1.5) | (1.3) | |||
| Head circumference-for- age z-scoreb | −0.3 | −0.9 | 5.95* | 0.61 |
| (1.2) | (1.0) | |||
| Head circumference percentileb | 41.9 | 25.1 | 5.62* | 0.59 |
| (30.9) | (26.1) | |||
| 12 months | ||||
| Weight (kg) | 9.0 | 8.6 | 1.48 | 0.31 |
| (1.4) | (1.2) | |||
| Weight-for-age z-scoreb | −0.4 | −0.8 | 2.76 | 0.25 |
| (1.4) | (1.2) | |||
| Weight percentileb | 43.5 | 27.0 | 5.13* | 0.53 |
| (33.7) | (28.3) | |||
| Length (cm) | 71.9 | 71.0 | 1.66 | 0.30 |
| (3.2) | (2.8) | |||
| Length-for- age z-scoreb | −1.1 | −1.7 | 5.28* | 0.54 |
| (1.2) | (1.1) | |||
| Length percentileb | 22.2 | 12.4 | 3.45† | 0.45 |
| (23.2) | (20.0) | |||
| Head circumference (cm) | 44.7 | 44.4 | 1.88 | 0.19 |
| (1.7) | (1.4) | |||
| Head circumference-for-age z-scoreb | −0.4 | −0.9 | 3.54† | 0.47 |
| (1.3) | (0.9) | |||
| Head circumference percentileb | 39.2 | 25.1 | 4.00* | 0.50 |
| (32.6) | (23.8) | |||
Values are mean (standard deviation) for birth measures. For 6.5 and 12 months, values are mean (standard deviation), adjusted for birth size. Z-scores and percentiles are adjusted for age and sex.
a
T-tests were used to compare the birth measures; analysis of covariance, to compare the 6.5- and 12-month measures after adjustment for their corresponding birth size measures.
b
Percentiles based on WHO norms (de Onis et al., 2004)
†
p < 0.10
*
p < 0.05