Infant Feeding Regimens and Gastrointestinal Tolerance: A Multicenter, Prospective, Observational Cohort Study in...

Area of Science:

• Nutrition Science
• Pediatrics
• Gastroenterology

Background:

• Infant feeding tolerance is crucial for healthy development.
• Understanding the impact of specialized infant formulas on gastrointestinal health is important.
• The combination of sn-2 palmitate and oligofructose (sn-2+OF) is designed to improve infant gut comfort.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate feeding tolerance in healthy Chinese infants consuming a formula enriched with sn-2 palmitate and oligofructose (sn-2+OF).
• To compare tolerance outcomes between exclusively breastfed, exclusively formula-fed (sn-2+OF), and mixed-fed infants in a real-world setting.

Main Methods:

• An observational study involving 460 healthy Chinese infants over 48 days.
• Infants were categorized into three feeding groups: exclusively breastfed (BF), exclusively formula-fed (FF) with sn-2+OF, and mixed-fed (MF) with breast milk and sn-2+OF formula.
• Incidence of hard and watery stools, and gastrointestinal tolerance scores were monitored.

Main Results:

• Incidence of hard stools was low across all groups, with ≤2.1% in FF and 0.8% in MF infants.
• Incidence of watery stools was also low, not exceeding 5.0% in FF infants.
• Gastrointestinal tolerance scores indicated good tolerance in both FF and MF groups, comparable to BF infants by study end.

Conclusions:

• Infant formula containing increased sn-2 palmitate and oligofructose (sn-2+OF) demonstrates good feeding tolerance in a real-world setting.
• The formula is associated with low incidences of abnormal stools (hard or watery).
• These findings support the use of sn-2+OF formula for promoting infant gastrointestinal comfort.