Growth rate, feeding practices, and dietary intake of Thai infants under two years old in central Bangkok

There is a growth retardation among Thai infants under the age of two years in the Bangkok area. A serious matter is the possible delay in brain development which may start at this early stage. In comparing growth curves of infants on three patterns of feeding it appears that those having sweetened condensed milk suffer from malnutrition and possible delay in brain development. Breast feeding provides satisfactory growth rate and brain development up to the age of 12 months and there is great hope that a nutrition programme to encourage breast feeding could combat existing problems of protein energy malnutrition. There is evidence of greater deficiency of energy than of protein, and there is need to investigate whether growth retardation is due to inadequate energy intake or to high infection rates or to both. Rice is the most suitable basic food for supplementing infants diets, and uncooked grain giving 1 g protein and 83.68 kJ (20 kcal) may well be the simplest formula for supplementing feeding up to the age of two years.