Low-Protein Infant Formula and Obesity Risk.

Infant formulas have been designed to mimic human milk for infants who cannot be breastfed. The overall goal is to establish similar functional outcomes to assure optimal growth, development, maturation of the immune system, and programming of the metabolic system. However, after decades of improving infant formula, growth patterns and body composition development are still different in formula-fed infants compared to breastfed infants, which could contribute to an increased risk of obesity among formula-fed infants.

Long-term effects of a modified, low-protein infant formula on growth and body composition: Follow-up of a randomized, double-blind, equivalence trial.

Background & Aim: High protein intake in early life is associated with an increased risk of childhood obesity. Feeding a modified lower-protein (mLP) infant formula (1.7 g protein/100 kcal) until the age of 6 months is safe and supports adequate growth.

Early-Life Metabolic and Hormonal Markers in Blood and Growth until Age 2 Years: Results from a Randomized Controlled Trial in Healthy Infants Fed a Modified Low-Protein Infant Formula.

Background: High protein intake in early life is associated with an increased risk of childhood obesity. Dietary protein intake may be a key mechanistic modulator through alterations in endocrine and metabolic responses.

Objective: We aimed to determine the impact of different protein intake of infants on blood metabolic and hormonal markers at the age of four months.

Methods to Assess Fat Mass in Infants and Young Children: A Comparative Study Using Skinfold Thickness and Air-Displacement Plethysmography.

Background: Traditionally, fat mass is estimated using anthropometric models. Air-displacement plethysmography (ADP) is a relatively new technique for determining fat mass. There is limited information on the agreement between these methods in infants and young children.

A modified low-protein infant formula supports adequate growth in healthy, term infants: a randomized, double-blind, equivalence trial.

Background: A high protein intake in early life is associated with a risk of obesity later in life. The essential amino acid requirements of formula-fed infants have been reassessed recently, enabling a reduction in total protein content and thus in protein intake.

Objectives: We aimed to assess the safety of an infant formula with a modified amino acid profile and a modified low-protein (mLP) content in healthy term-born infants.

No Association between Glucocorticoid Diurnal Rhythm in Breastmilk and Infant Body Composition at 3 Months.

Objective: Glucocorticoids (GCs) in breastmilk have previously been associated with infant body growth and body composition. However, the diurnal rhythm of breastmilk GCs was not taken into account, and we therefore aimed to assess the associations between breastmilk GC rhythmicity at 1 month and growth and body composition at 3 months in infants.

Methods: At 1 month postpartum, breastmilk GCs were collected over a 24-h period and analyzed by LC-MS/MS.

Body Composition Using Air Displacement Plethysmography in Children With Intestinal Failure Receiving Long-Term Home Parenteral Nutrition.

Background: Children with intestinal failure (IF) are at risk of growth failure, but little information about body composition is available. Our aim was to assess body composition using air displacement plethysmography (ADP) and relate it to clinical and growth parameters.

Methods: In this prospective descriptive observational 2-center cohort study, children aged 2-18 years receiving home parenteral nutrition (PN) for ≥6 months underwent ADP measurement.

The Association between Breastmilk Glucocorticoid Concentrations and Macronutrient Contents Throughout the Day.

Background: Glucocorticoids (GCs) in breastmilk follow the maternal hypothalamus⁻pituitary⁻adrenal axis activity and may affect the offspring's growth and neurodevelopment. There is some evidence suggesting that macronutrients in breastmilk also fluctuate throughout the day. We aimed to research whether GCs and macronutrients are correlated in multiple breastmilk samples obtained over a 24-h period.

Nutrition of infants and young children (one to three years) and its effect on later health: A systematic review of current recommendations (EarlyNutrition project).

Background: EarlyNutrition ( www.project-earlynutrition.eu ) is an international research project investigating the effects of early nutrition on metabolic programming.

Nutritional interventions or exposures in infants and children aged up to 3 years and their effects on subsequent risk of overweight, obesity and body fat: a systematic review of systematic reviews.

This study, performed as part of the international EarlyNutrition research project (http://www.project-earlynutrition.eu), provides a systematic review of systematic reviews on the effects of nutritional interventions or exposures in children (up to 3 years of age) on the subsequent risk of obesity, overweight and adiposity.

Effect of Donor Milk on Severe Infections and Mortality in Very Low-Birth-Weight Infants: The Early Nutrition Study Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Infections and necrotizing enterocolitis, major causes of mortality and morbidity in preterm infants, are reduced in infants fed their own mother's milk when compared with formula. When own mother's milk is not available, human donor milk is considered a good alternative, albeit an expensive one. However, most infants at modern neonatal intensive care units are predominantly fed with own mother's milk.

Optimal nutrition in lactating women and its effect on later health of offspring: A systematic review of current evidence and recommendations (EarlyNutrition project).

Background: EarlyNutrition ( www.project-earlynutrition.eu ) is an international research consortium investigating the effects of early nutrition on metabolic programming.

Protein Concentration in Milk Formula, Growth, and Later Risk of Obesity: A Systematic Review.

Background: Protein intake may influence important health outcomes in later life.

Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate current evidence on the effects of infant formulas and follow-on formulas with different protein concentrations on infants' and children's growth, body composition, and later risk of overweight and obesity.

Methods: In this systematic review, we searched electronic databases (including MEDLINE, Embase, and the Cochrane Library) up until November 2014 for randomized controlled trials (RCTs).

Optimal growth of preterm infants.

The cause of growth restriction in preterm infants is multifactorial, but it has been estimated that about 50% of the variance in early postnatal growth can be attributed to nutrition. Very low birth weight (VLBW) infants who were born small-for-gestational age (SGA) seem to have the highest risk to become growth restricted. Possibly, the intrauterine growth-retarded preterm infant is metabolically different from its appropriately grown counterpart and therefore has different nutritional needs.

Intake of own mother's milk during the first days of life is associated with decreased morbidity and mortality in very low birth weight infants during the first 60 days of life.

Background: The incidence of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) and possibly also of sepsis is lower in preterm infants fed their own mother's milk (hereafter 'mother's milk') compared with formula-fed infants. It is unclear whether this is caused by the protective properties of breast milk or by the absence of cow's milk. Especially in early life, mother's milk is often unavailable to preterm infants, while minimal enteral nutrition is initiated immediately.