Protein energy malnutrition during this critical period may severely impact on people’s eventual height, as well as the development of cognitive processes later in childhood.
Professor Olivier Goulet from the National Reference Centre for Rare Digestive Diseases, University of Paris Descartes, France, promoted the possible role of added protein for supporting at-risk infants at a recent seminar hosted by the Nestlé Nutrition Institute.
The symposium was one of two satellite events organised by the Swiss food group to run alongside a meeting of the European Society of Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition (ESPGHAN) in Sorrento, Italy.
Playing catch-up
“The use of protein to combat malnutrition is not applicable to all babies,” stressed Annette Jarvi, healthcare nutrition, medical affairs manager for Nestlé. “This is just in those cases when it is needed, such as children with (or at risk of) impaired growth or failure to thrive due to different reasons, such as an underlying disease or condition.”
According to Goulet, optimal catch-up growth may be achieved by providing double the child’s resting energy expenditure and a protein/energy ratio of 1g protein per 30-40 kcal, which is around 9-11 per cent of the total energy intake.
"In many conditions it has been shown that nutrition can help in reducing complications and improving outcomes, for example, in children with cystic fibrosis, Crohn’s disease and neurological disorders,” he told delegates.
An answer for allergies?
Meanwhile, a presentation in the parallel symposium had proteins under the spotlight for their role in inducing allergies. Long-term health problems are often associated with the incidence of atopic dermatitis in infants, which is in turn caused by an allergic reaction sparked by a failure to develop oral tolerance to foods.
A range of factors are involved in developing allergies, but Professor Ricardo Sorensen, Department of Paediatrics, Louisiana State University Health Science Center in the US, told the meeting that exposure to large unprocessed food proteins, plus the decrease in breast-feeding and introduction of whole cow milk formulas both play key roles.
According to Sorensen, there’s a growing body of evidence that breaking down the proteins used in cow’s milk formula may provide an answer: “Multiple studies have shown that feeding hydrolysed cow milk formulas decreases allergic sensitisation in comparison to feeding of whole cow milk formulas. There may be a particular size range of peptides most effective in inducing oral tolerance.”