WHO recommends which form of feeding for the first 6 months of life?
Exclusive breast milk (EBM)
What are the benefits of breastfeeding?
What are the feeding volumes in babies?
Titrated up across the first week of life as tolerated, to target of 150ml/kg/day.
This is initially split between feeds every 2-3 hours, then to 4 hours and longer.
Eventually babies transition to feeding on demand.
What is the acceptable rate of initial weight loss in babies?
Lose up to 10% of body weight in the first 5 days.
However, they should regain their birth weight by day 10.
What is the most common cause of excessive initial weight loss in babies?
Dehydration due to under feeding.
The most reliable sign of dehydration in babies is weight loss - even when they do not clinically look dehydrated.
When does weaning begin?
At around 6 months of age, babies are gradually transitioned from milk to normal food.
It starts with pureed foods that are easy to palate, and gradually progresses towards a healthy diet resembling an older child.
Until the age of 1 year, this can be supplemented with milk and snacks.
What is plotted on growth charts?
against normal distribution for their age and gender.
What are the phases of growth?
1) First 2 years
2) 2 years to puberty
3) During puberty
a) rapid growth driven by nutritional factors
b) steady slow growth
c) rapid growth spurt driven by sex hormones
What factors have contributed towards an increase in childhood obesity?
Increased access to readily available, affordable, high calorie foods. This leads to the overconsumption of calories.
There has also been a shift from physical activities and outdoor play, to sedentary activities such as video games and screens.
Define
a) overweight
b) obesity
in children.
a) above the 85th percentile for BMI
b) above the 95th percentile for BMI
What are the effects of childhood obesity?
What is failure to thrive?
The poor physical growth and development in a child.
NICE (2017) definitions of failure to thrive.
Fall in weight across:
- one or more centile spaces if birthweight was below the 9th centile
- two or more centile spaces if their birthweight was between the 9th and 91st centile
- three or more centile spaces if their birthweight was above the 91st centile
What is a centile space?
The distance between two centile lines.
For example, if the initial weight of a child is plotted halfway between the 9th and 25th centile lines, and several months later is plotted halfway between the 2nd and 9th centile lines, they have dropped a full centile space.
What are the broad categories of failure to thrive?
Causes of inadequate nutritional intake.
Causes of difficulty feeding.
Causes of malabsorption.
Causes of increased energy requirements.
Causes of inability to process nutrients properly.
How is a child failing to thrive assessed?
Define mid parental height.
(height of mum + height of dad) / 2
Outcomes from assessment that suggest inadequate nutrition or a growth disorder are?
NICE (2017) recommend which investigations for failure to thrive?
Focused investigations should be considered where additional signs or symptoms suggest an underlying diagnosis.