Results of feeding a special formula to very low birth weight infants

Abstract

Fifty-eight premature infants weighing less than 1,600 g at birth were fed a special formula. The formula contained nutrients in amounts recommended by the Committee ono Nutrition of the American Academy of Pediatrics for very low birth weight (VLBW) infants. The feeding studies were carried out at newborn nurseries in Tampa, Florida (study A, n = 25), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (study B, n = 20), and Oaklawn, Illinois (study C, n = 13). Study subjects were comparable in birth weight, gestational age, and in the duration of follow-up in the nurseries. All study subjects grew at rates of weight acquisition equivalent to the comparative fetal counterpart. Routine anthropometric measurements were similar to those of fetal development curves. Mean protein intake ranged from 2.3 to 3.7 g/kg/day and mean caloric intake from 105 to 150 kcal/kg/day. Late metabolic acidosis in association with prematurity was absent in all subjects studied as demonstrated by normal pH values, bicarbonate, and partial pressure of carbon dioxide. Serum sodium and serum chloride levels were normal. Serum calcium ranged from 8.3 to 10.1 mg/dl and serum phosphorus from 6.0 to 7.5 mg/dl. Total serum protein levels ranged from 4.5 to 5.1 g/dl. Blood urea nitrogen diminished progressively from 5.1 to 2 mg/dl in the course of the study. Serum glucose levels in samples taken prior to and 2 h after feeding did not demonstrate any evidence of reactive hypoglycemia.