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Neonatal period: body composition changes in breast-fed full-term newborns

Paola Roggero1, Maria L Giannì, Anna Orsi

  • 1Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Mangiagalli e Regina Elena, Milan, Italy. roggero@unimi.it

Neonatology
|September 25, 2009
PubMed

Insights

Newborns lose both fat mass and fat-free mass in the first few days of life, with fat mass being regained more rapidly. This study clarifies infant body composition changes during early postnatal development.

Area of Science:

  • Neonatal physiology
  • Infant body composition analysis
  • Pediatric research

Background:

  • Newborn infants typically experience weight loss in the initial days of life.
  • This weight loss involves both body solids and total body water.
  • The precise nature of these early body composition changes requires detailed investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the specific changes in body composition during the period of weight loss in healthy term newborns.
  • To differentiate between fat mass and fat-free mass changes in early infancy.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized air-displacement plethysmography to assess body composition in healthy full-term newborns.
  • Employed both cross-sectional (n=262) and longitudinal (n=28) study designs.
  • Data collection occurred during the first 4-5 days after delivery.

Main Results:

  • Significant decreases in body weight, fat mass (FM), and %FM were observed by day 3-4 in cross-sectional and longitudinal samples.
  • Fat-free mass also significantly decreased on days 3 and 4.
  • By day 5, significant regain of body weight, FM, and %FM was noted compared to day 4, with no significant difference from day 1.

Conclusions:

  • Body composition changes in early infancy involve reductions in both fat mass and fat-free mass.
  • Fat mass experiences a proportionally greater loss and subsequent regain by day 5 compared to fat-free mass.
  • These findings provide insight into the dynamic nature of infant body composition post-birth.
Abstract

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