Design of the South East Asian Nutrition Survey (SEANUTS): a four-country multistage cluster design study.

Nutrition is a well-known factor in the growth, health and development of children. It is also acknowledged that worldwide many people have dietary imbalances resulting in over- or undernutrition. In 2009, the multinational food company FrieslandCampina initiated the South East Asian Nutrition Survey (SEANUTS), a combination of surveys carried out in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, to get a better insight into these imbalances.

Supplementation of milk formula with galacto-oligosaccharides improves intestinal micro-flora and fermentation in term infants.

Background: Oligosaccharides in human milk may protect infants by improving the intestinal micro-flora and fermentation. This study was to investigate effects of infant formula milk consisting of galacto-oligosaccharide (GOS) on intestinal microbial populations and the fermentation characteristics in term infants in comparison with that of human milk.

Methods: The test formula (Frisolac H, Friesland, Netherland) was supplemented with GOS at a concentration of 0.

The quantity of thyroid hormone in human milk is too low to influence plasma thyroid hormone levels in the very preterm infant.

Background: Thyroid hormone is crucial for brain development during foetal and neonatal life. In very preterm infants, transient low levels of plasma T4 and T3 are commonly found, a phenomenon referred to as transient hypothyroxinaemia of prematurity. We investigated whether breast milk is a substantial resource of thyroid hormone for very preterm neonates and can alleviate transient hypothyroxinaemia.