Lipid supply and metabolism in infancy

The rapid growth of young infants is supported by a high dietary fat intake close to 50% of the energy intake, resulting in a high dietary energy density. The adequacy of diets with low fat content during the second half year of life with respect to supporting growth has recently been studied. The digestion of dietary lipids is initiated by gastric lipolysis, which may provide an important contribution to total fat digestion in premature infants. The supply, metabolism and biological effects of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids during early development has been the subject of intensive research in recent years in view of potential effects on growth and functional development of visual and neural tissues. Intravenous lipid emulsions are an indispensable part of parenteral nutrition of young children, and efforts are being made to improve the parenteral feeding regimens to meet the metabolic needs for this sensitive group of patients.