The low-birth-weight infant

Low-birth-weight (LBW) infants have special nutritional requirements arising from their rapid growth rate and developmental immaturity. LBW infants are of many kinds; for example, the nutritional needs and functional capabilities of a small-for-gestational-age full-term infant are not the same as those of a very LBW premature infant. Ideal criteria for evaluating the nutritional management of these infants have not been established, and thus the recommended intakes given here do not represent proven physiological requirements. They nevertheless provide a basis from which more refined recommendations may be made.Although this chapter is not intended as such to be a discussion of applicable feeding techniques, it would be difficult and artificial to divorce two such closely intertwined aspects of the distinctive needs of this highly vulnerable group. Feeding techniques have to be carefully assessed in the light of specific environments and the expertise available, and none is entirely risk-free in any setting. Thus, it is essential to compensate for the immaturity of the infants and to avoid compromising the airway or risking aspiration of gastric contents.The choice between using breast milk or proprietary formulas in feeding LBW infants is complex on both nutritional and immunological grounds as well as for practical reasons. Given that the preponderance (>90%) of LBW infants are born in developing countries, the use of an infant's own mother's fresh milk may be the only realistic option. However, irrespective of the health care facilities, level of technology or alternative formulas that might be available, studies show that there is much to recommend feeding LBW infants their own mothers' milk in any environment.