Infant Nutrition Health Article

Infant Nutrition

The first year of life is a period of very rapid growth. An infant's birth weight doubles after about five months and triples by the first birthday, by which time the infant's length increases by half. Adequate and appropriate nutrition is essential during this period, for infants that do not receive sufficient calories, vitamins, and minerals will not reach their expected growth.

Nutrient Requirements

An infant's requirement for calories is determined by size, rate of growth, activity, and energy needed for metabolic activities. Calorie needs per pound of body weight are higher during the first year of life than at any other time. Since there is variation among infants, a range of recommended calorie intakes have been developed. For the first four to six months of life, breast or formula feeding can provide sufficient calories. Measuring weight and length, and plotting it on a standardized growth grid, can determine the adequacy of an infant's calorie intake.

The calories in an infant's diet are provided by protein, fat, and carbohydrates. Protein is a basic part of every cell. Of the protein requirement, 50 percent is used for growth in the first two months of life, a figure that declines to 11 percent by two to three years of age. Fat provides 40 to 50 percent of the calories supplied during infancy and is a source of essential fatty acids. Carbohydrates, primarily lactose, are the principal source of dietary energy. Water requirements for the first six months are met when adequate amounts of breast milk or infant formula are consumed.

Breast milk from a well-nourished mother will supply adequate amounts of most vitamins and minerals, as will an iron-fortified formula. Vitamin D is also recommended for the breastfed infant, particularly infants who live in northern urban areas who are dark-skinned, who are kept covered due to cultural practices, or whose mothers have an inadequate intake of vitamin D. In places where the water supply is severely low in fluoride (less than 3 parts per million), fluoride supplementation might be considered for breastfed infants over six months of age.