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ARS Home » Plains Area » Houston, Texas » Children's Nutrition Research Center » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #109852
Title: WORKSHOP SUMMARY: NUTRITION OF THE EXTREMELY LOW BIRTH WEIGHT INFANT

Author
item HAY, WILLIAM - UNIV COL HLTH SCI CENTER
item LUCAS, ALAN - UNIV COLLEGE LONDON
item Heird, William
item ZIEGLER, EKHARD - UNIV IOWA
item LEVIN, EPHRAIM - NIH
item GRAVE, GILMAN - NIH
item CATZ, CHARLOTTE - NIH
item YAFFE, SUMNER - NIH

Submitted to: Pediatrics
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/26/1999
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Despite advances in survival and outcome of extremely low birth weight (ELBW) infants, their growth continues to lag considerably after birth. This lag is related to long-term growth and neurodevelopmental delays at least through school age, and, possibly, into adulthood. These major deficits define critical needs for further information about nutritional requirements for growth of ELBW infants, how these needs should be met, an whether improved growth and developmental outcomes can be achieved with earlier, more aggressive postnatal nutrition. A Workshop sponsored by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development addressed these issues. This Summary presents a consensus of Workshop attendees concerning the nutritional requirements of ELBW infants, how these requirements are currently met, and how current nutritional practices contribute to the poor outcome of ELBW infants. Recommendations that should lead to improved nutrition, growth and developmental outcome of ELBW infants are given. The most urgent research need identified was large-scale, long-term studies evaluating the metabolic growth and neurodevelopmental responses to earlier, more aggressive nutritional management. The long-term aim should be to define strategies that support the desired rates of growth. Specific studies should test specific nutritional interventions in ELBW infants (e.g., high protein intake, quality of protein intake). Major outcomes should include short- and long-term mortality as well as the type, rate, and severity of specific morbidities, length of hospital stay, and long- term growth and development. The participants strongly recommended that investigators be primarily concerned with endpoints that have obvious clinical meaning.