What Does “SGA” Mean?
SGA (small for gestational age) generally describes any infant whose birth weight and/or length was less than the 3rd percentile (adjusted for prematurity). “IUGR” is a term also commonly used, and describes the small infant who had poor fetal length growth demonstrated while in-utero by ultrasonography. “SGA” is currently used to describe any child born smaller than average in both length and weight. In this brochure, we will be focusing on the SGA child whose length and possibly weight has not caught up to what is appropriate for their age, and for whom doctors can not determine any reason for the child’s smallness. How is Small for Gestational Age (SGA) Diagnosed? Pediatricians usually begin by looking at all the possible factors for a child being born too small – maternal, environmental, and others. A pediatrician may send a Small for Gestational Age child to a geneticist, to see if the child’s features fit any number of short-stature syndromes (some determined with lab tests, othe
