PHYSIOLOGICAL LIMITATIONS
- Small stomach capacity
- Immature kidney function
- Lower digestive ability than adults
- Low HCL in stomach
- Low levels of digestive enzymes
- Low lipase and bile salts
BREAST MILK COMPOSITION: Best Nutrition for Babies
The role of protein in Paediatric Nutrition
- Protein is important for the growth and maintenance of our tissues and organs; however, do we know how much is enough for babies?
- High protein intake early in life has been associated with obesity later in life.
Protein in Human Milk
- Protein is a prime example of how human milk is unique nutrition( no wonder we call it the Best food of choice) for human babies.
- Human milk is LOW in protein, at least when compared with the milk of other species, especially cow’s milk.
- NOTE: This is not a Nutritional deficiency; there are good reasons for this as Human infants are designed to grow slowly and steadily (developmental milestones)
- High protein in infant diet leads to an increase solute load for the KIDNEY. •High protein in infant diet leads to rapid rate of growth-Obesity.
Why is unmodified cows milk unsuitable for infants?
- Nutritionally unbalanced for the human infant
- High renal solute load –3 times as much protein as human milk –Excess sodium
- Too low in iron
- Difficult to digest fats
- Poor in essential fatty acids
- Too high in casein leading to a poor protein quality
Infant Formula feeds
- It must be an age-appropriate breast milk substitute tailored to meet the developmental milestone of the child; 0-6months, 6-12 months as the infant’s nutritional needs are different at this stages. This also ensures less stress on the infant’s immature organs.
- The lower regulatory limit for protein content of formula milk for children aged 0-6 mths is 1.8g/100kcal (1.2g/100mls) in both the EU and US, with the actual protein content in some formulas typically exceeding this level!!!.
SUMMARY
- A baby grows faster during the first year of life than anytime in life.
- A baby’s birth weight doubles during the first 6 months and triples by the end of the first year.
- Adequate nutrition is critical to support this rapid growth and development.
CONCLUSION
- Ensuring infant’s healthy growth and development without metabolic stress has adequate nutrition at its core.
- Starting from the timely initiation of breast milk and appropriate age-related substitutes where medically indicated to cater for increasing energy and nutrient needs of infants, to nutritional vigilance against harmful practices that can alter the outcome of raising healthy children.
- HCPs to guide Moms on age-appropriate food choices for the child
–Size of tommy means dense nutrition
–Growth requirements means adequate nutrition
–Limited digestive capacity means right composition
References
- Pronczuk J Global perspective in breastmilk contamination: Infectious and toxic hazards. Environ Health Pesrpec,2002,110: A349
- Acceptable medical reasons for use of breast milk substitutes 1 WHO/NMH/NHD09.01 WHO/FCH/CAH/09.01
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