Energy intake and growth of infants in Iceland - a population with high frequency of breast-feeding and high birth weight

Objective: To investigate infants' energy intake and growth in a population with a high frequency of breastfeeding and high birth weight. Design: The infants' consumption was recorded once a month from 1 to 12 mon ths of age. At the ages of 2, 4, 6, 9 and 12 months all ingested food was w eighed accurately to calculate nutrient intake. A control group participate d at the age of 9 months. Setting: Participants, who were born healthy, were recruited from four diff erent maternity wards. Growth data were collected from healthcare centres a nd consumption data with parents' assistance from the infants' homes. Subjects: Infants (n = 250) were randomly selected and divided into a resea rch group (n = 180) and a control group (n = 70). The research group partic ipants numbered 138 (77%) and the control participants 57 (81%). Results: Energy intake was lower than current recommendations but was simil ar to that found in recent studies. Growth, as a percentage of birth weight , correlated negatively with birth weight, with r = 0.77 (P < 0.001) for gr owth to 12 months. Infants breast-fed at 7 months of age gained less weight from 6 to 9 months, 1057 +/- 58 g, than those not breast-fed, 1498 +/- 130 g (P < 0.001). Analysis of the control group's intake showed that participa tion in the study did not affect intake. Conclusion: The findings support the need for new recommendations on energy intake and new growth charts based on current knowledge about breast-fed i nfants. Birth weight is a determining factor of growth in infancy, and perc entage weight gain during the first year of life increases as birth weight decreases.