Doctoral CRP on Stable Isotope Techniques to Assess Intake of Human Milk and Body Composition of Infants and Young Children up to Two Years of Age
Closed for proposals
Project Type
Project Code
E43026CRP
1768Approved Date
Status
Start Date
Expected End Date
Completed Date
13 November 2017Description
Exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months, followed by the introduction of appropriate complementary foods and continued breastfeeding, as recommended by the World Health Organization and UNICEF (1), are cornerstones in infant nutrition. However, only limited information is available on the quantities of human milk consumed and the time of introduction of other foods into the infants’ diet, in particular in developing countries. The lack of information is, at least partly, due to the difficulties involved in measuring intake of human milk. By conventional technique, infants are weighed before and after each feed, “test weighing”. This technique is obviously time consuming and may disturb the normal feeding pattern. These practical problems can be overcome by using a stable isotope technique, the deuterium-oxide turnover method, as the normal feeding pattern is not influenced and the total volume of human milk, consumed by the baby over a period of 14 days, is measured. In addition, information about whether the infant has consumed water from other sources than human milk (representing intake of complementary foods or fluids) and the lactating mother’s body composition can be assessed based on total body water content. Furthermore, stable isotope technique can be used to evaluate the influence of feeding patterns on body composition of children during the first 2 years of life to contribute new information on the link between infant feeding and later risk of ill health. The overall aim of this CRP is to contribute new information on infant feeding practices and the influence of early feeding on body composition of young children in different settings. This CRP has a strong focus on training and education and will contribute to capacity building in nuclear techniques in nutrition by training of PhD students in developing countries.
Objectives
The overall objective is to contribute new information on infant feeding practices and body composition of infants and young children during the first 2 years of life
Specific objectives
Assess body composition of lactating mothers by stable isotope technique
Assess body composition of young children by stable isotope technique and other appropriate techniques
Assess feeding practices by stable isotope techniques in infants and young children (0-2 years) in different settings
Impact
1. Timely and unique evidence on objectively measured breastfeeding practices.
2. Results from this CRP have shown that the WHO estimates of human milk intake by breastfed infants, based on test weighing, may underestimate the true intake and therefore the recommendations for nutritional requirements of infants.
3. This CRP has contributed data toward an attempt to develop a streamlined method to identify exclusively breastfed infants in support of breastfeeding promotion.
3. Information has been provided that will be useful for policy and advocacy within countries and globally.
4. The capacity, skills and professional networks of key investigators and their institutions has been increased and the potential for future harmonisation, collaboration and research is well placed among participants in the CRP.
5. Data from this CRP was pooled and shared with NAHRES and is already included in the global database on infant and young child feeding practices.
Relevance
Appropriate nutrition during the first 1000 days has long term impact on health, productivity and human capacity. The CRP was aligned with the aim of the first 1000 days partnerships and will contribute to the Global Nutrition Targets 2025 in the Sustainable Development Goals, to increase the rate of exclusive breastfeeding in the first six months up to at least 50%.
The findings from this CRP will contribute to the global efforts to improve nutrition through appropriate infant feeding practices. In addition, it will provide information which is relevant for infant feeding in areas with high HIV prevalence.