Abstract
Nutrition in early life, growth, and subsequent health over a lifetime are significantly interrelated. The aim of this study was to assess body composition changes in exclusively breast-fed infants from birth up to 6 mo of age. An observational, prospective, cohort study was conducted. Fifty-nine full-term, healthy, exclusively breast-fed infants underwent assessment of growth and body composition, using air-displacement plethysmograph (i.e. PEA POD) by Life Measurement, Inc. (Concord, CA). Body composition was assessed at birth, 2 wk, and 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 mo of age. Mean birth weight (g) and gestational age (wk) of the infants were 3170 ± 420 and 39.21 ± 1.29, respectively. Percentage of fat mass increased significantly over the first 4 mo (p < 0.001), both in boys and girls, with no differences detected between boys and girls at any time point. This article provides preliminary in-depth data on whole-body composition, in exclusively breast-fed infants during the first months of life. Further studies assessing larger sample sizes are desirable to develop reference body composition data.
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Abbreviations
- FM:
-
fat mass
- FFM:
-
fat-free mass
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Roggero, P., Giannì, M., Orsi, A. et al. Quality of Growth in Exclusively Breast-Fed Infants in the First Six Months of Life: An Italian Study. Pediatr Res 68, 542–544 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1203/PDR.0b013e3181f85a20
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/PDR.0b013e3181f85a20
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