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Influence of a Functional Nutrients-Enriched Infant Formula on Language Development in Healthy Children at Four Years
Ana Nieto-Ruiz1,2,3,4, Estefanía Diéguez1,2,3, Natalia Sepúlveda-Valbuena2,5
1Department of Paediatrics, School of Medicine, University of Granada, Avda. Investigación 11, 18016 Granada, Spain.
Insights
A new infant formula enriched with bioactive compounds showed positive long-term effects on children's language development. This enhanced formula, compared to standard formula, supported language skills similarly to breastfed infants by age four.
Area of Science:
- Child Development
- Nutritional Science
- Pediatric Neurology
Background:
- Early life nutrition is critical for brain development and establishing cognitive and language skills.
- Breastfeeding is traditionally linked to better neurodevelopmental outcomes compared to formula feeding.
- The long-term impact of specialized infant formulas on language development requires further investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the long-term effects of a novel infant formula enriched with bioactive compounds on language development in four-year-old children.
- To compare the language outcomes of children fed standard formula, enriched formula, or breast milk.
- To assess the influence of infant nutrition on specific aspects of language skills, including expression and overall development.
Main Methods:
- A randomized double-blind COGNIS study involving 122 children followed up at age four.
- Participants were fed either standard formula (SF), enriched formula (EF), or were exclusively breastfed (BF) for the first 18 months.
- Language development was assessed using the Oral Language Task of Navarra-Revised (PLON-R), with statistical analyses including ANCOVA and logistic regression.
Main Results:
- Children fed the enriched formula (EF) showed higher scores in language use and spontaneous oral expression compared to those fed standard formula (SF).
- Both SF and EF groups performed similarly to the breastfed (BF) group in overall language development.
- SF-fed children were more likely to exhibit delayed language development compared to EF-fed and BF children, with a trend linking lower socioeconomic status to poorer language skills.
Conclusions:
- The enriched infant formula (EF) appears to support long-term language development in children up to four years of age.
- The EF group demonstrated language outcomes comparable to breastfed infants, suggesting a potential benefit over standard formula.
- Infant nutrition plays a significant role in language acquisition, and specialized formulas may offer advantages for children not exclusively breastfed.
Abstract:
Nutrition during early life is essential for brain development and establishes the basis for cognitive and language skills development. It is well established that breastfeeding, compared to formula feeding, has been traditionally associated with increased neurodevelopmental scores up to early adulthood. We analyzed the long-term effects of a new infant formula enriched with bioactive compounds on healthy children's language development at four years old. In a randomized double-blind COGNIS study, 122 children attended the follow-up call at four years. From them, 89 children were fed a standard infant formula (SF, n = 46) or an experimental infant formula enriched with functional nutrients (EF, n = 43) during their first 18 months of life. As a reference group, 33 exclusively breastfed (BF) were included. Language development was assessed using the Oral Language Task of Navarra-Revised (PLON-R). ANCOVA, chi-square test, and logistic regression models were performed. EF children seemed to show higher scores in use of language and oral spontaneous expression than SF children, and both SF and EF groups did not differ from the BF group. Moreover, it seems that SF children were more frequently categorized into "need to improve and delayed" in the use of language than EF children, and might more frequently present "need to improve and delayed" in the PLON-R total score than BF children. Finally, the results suggest that SF children presented a higher risk of suffering language development than BF children. Secondary analysis also showed a slight trend between low socioeconomic status and poorer language skills. The functional compound-enriched infant formula seems to be associated with beneficial long-term effects in the development of child's language at four years old in a similar way to breastfed infants.
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