EARLY DIET OF PRETERM INFANTS AND BONE MINERALIZATION AT AGE 5 YEARS

Bone disease with significantly reduced bone mineralization is common in preterm infants, and associated with later linear growth stunting a t 18 months of age. Dietary insufficiency of calcium and phosphorus is thought to be the principal aetiological factor. We studied 54 childr en at mean age 5 years who were born preterm and had participated in a prospective multicentre study of effects of early diet on later growt h and development. Diets compared were banked donor breast milk and pr eterm formula fed as a supplement to mother's own milk. Increasing hum an milk intake was strongly positively associated with later bone mine ral content. Children fed predominantly human milk had greater bone mi neral content than children of similar size born at term. These data s uggest that the early nutritional environment of the preterm infant co uld play an important role in determining later skeletal growth and mi neralization.