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Higher protein and energy intake is associated with increased weight gain in pre-term infants

Carmel T Collins1, Mei Chien Chua, Victor S Rajadurai

  • 1Child Nutrition Research Centre, Women's and Children's Hospital, Flinders Medical Centre and Women's and Children's Health Research Institute, Adelaide, Australia.

Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health
|January 29, 2010
PubMed

Insights

Infants born before 33 weeks gestation received different nutritional support across two hospitals. Higher energy and protein intake in Adelaide correlated with better growth, though both centers had suboptimal infant growth outcomes.

Area of Science:

  • Neonatal nutrition
  • Pediatric growth and development
  • Comparative clinical audits

Background:

  • Premature infants (<33 weeks gestation) require specialized nutritional management.
  • Variations in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) practices can impact infant outcomes.
  • Optimizing nutrition is crucial for preventing growth failure in preterm infants.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To compare nutritional management and growth patterns in preterm infants (<33 weeks gestation) between two tertiary centers.
  • To identify differences in energy and protein intake and their association with infant growth.
  • To assess the incidence of postnatal growth failure in the studied cohorts.

Main Methods:

  • A comparative audit of daily nutritional intake and infant weight gain from birth to discharge.
  • Inclusion of infants born <33 weeks gestation from two distinct tertiary neonatal units.
  • Utilized mixed-effects models to analyze intake and daily weight data, accounting for repeated measures.

Main Results:

  • The Adelaide cohort demonstrated higher initial energy and protein intake compared to the Singapore cohort.
  • Significantly greater weekly increases in energy (21.0 kcal/week) and protein (0.88 g/week) were observed in Adelaide.
  • The Adelaide cohort experienced a higher daily weight gain (9 g/day) and lower rates of postnatal growth failure (32% vs. 64%).

Conclusions:

  • Distinct differences in nutritional management strategies were identified between the two tertiary centers.
  • Higher energy and protein intake were associated with improved growth outcomes in preterm infants.
  • Despite differences, growth in both cohorts remained below established recommendations, highlighting a need for improved nutritional strategies.
Abstract

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