| Advanced neonatal intensive care interventions have resulted in improved survival of neonates born <37 weeks gestation. This trend has continued over the past 20 years increasing the number of preterm survivors of all the live births from 9.4% to 11.5%. With the improvement and stabilization of the mortality rate of all preterm births, investigations have focused on the ensuing morbidities associated with preterm birth. Conversely, there was a shift in the literature to investigating the outcome of babies from the low birth weight preterm to the extremely low birth weight, very preterm even though babies in this category account for only a small fraction (1%) of the total live births. Moreover, preterm follow-up studies have emphasized the assessment of morbidities early in the life of the child, rather than at school-age and beyond when the effect of preterm birth may impact functioning in school or later health. The purpose of this dissertation was to investigate health-related fitness and physical activity levels of children 7--10 years of age born preterm (30--35 weeks gestation) and compare to age, gender, and race-matched peers born fullterm. This was accomplished by examining the following components of health-related fitness: body composition, flexibility, motor proficiency, cardiorespiratory endurance, as well as, physical activity levels. Twenty-two ex-preterm and 22 fullterm matched controls between 7--10 years of age were recruited into the study. Findings included impairments in motor control, running speed and agility, balance, and strength in the ex-preterm group when compared to the control group. In addition, the ex-preterm group exhibited more soft neurological signs. There were no differences between the groups in pulmonary function, flexibility, cardiorespiratory endurance on graded maximal treadmill test, or level of habitual physical activity. There were statistically significant differences in body composition with the ex-preterm group shorter and lighter. The findings of this dissertation suggest ex-preterm subjects 7--10 years of age born at 30--35 weeks gestation exhibit impairments in motor control and motor skills, however, at this age, not contributing to activity limitations or participation restrictions. |
