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Energy requirements in Chilean infants
1Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology (INTA), University of Chile, Santiago, Chile. gsalazar@uec.inta.uchile.cl
Archives of Disease in Childhood. Fetal and Neonatal Edition
|August 22, 2000
Summary
This study determined the energy needs of breastfed infants, finding their requirements were 19.4% lower than current recommendations. These findings support optimized infant nutrition guidelines.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Human Nutrition
- Metabolic Research
Background:
- Accurate assessment of energy requirements is crucial for infant growth and development.
- Existing recommendations for infant energy intake may not fully reflect the needs of exclusively breastfed infants.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the specific energy requirements of healthy, exclusively breastfed infants.
- To compare measured energy needs with established dietary recommendations.
Main Methods:
- Utilized the doubly labeled water method to measure total energy expenditure.
- Employed the dose-to-infant method to quantify milk intake in 17 healthy infants.
- Collected urine samples over seven days for isotopic analysis.
Main Results:
- Average infant weight during the study was 4617g with a weight gain of 34.0 g/day.
- Mean daily milk intake was 728g, providing a metabolisable energy content of 2.71 kJ/g.
- Total energy expenditure was 1205 kJ/day, with 607 kJ/day allocated for growth, resulting in an overall requirement of 391 kJ/kg/day.
Conclusions:
- The energy requirements for exclusively breastfed infants are lower than previously recommended.
- Findings align with data from the United Kingdom and United States.
- Suggests a potential adjustment of 19.4% less energy than FAO/WHO/UNU recommendations for adequate growth.