Infant nutrition Flashcards
Which categories of animals have presence of mammary glands?
- monotremes (lay eggs)
- marsupials (immature live-born, live in pouches)
- eutherians (placental mammals)
What is purpose of the adaptation of apocrine gland?
provide moisture for eggs, including immune components to prevent infection
What does the hairs on the egg do?
spread the layer of fluid on egg
In animals, what are the advantages of the nutritional secretions (and lactation)?
- provide nutrition distant from food source, rely on maternal source
- enable decreased size of egg/yolk
- young can grow to large size/maturity, before developing features to eat specialised diets
What methods of nutritional secretions are produced by non-mammalian species?
- crop milk in birds
- mouth-to-mouth holocrine secretion
What is the alpha-lactalbumin (from lysozome) component’s role in milk?
- initially in synthesis of oligosaccharides, not lactose
- present before milk had nutritional role
Explain what milk fat globules are (MFGM):
- found in all species
- unique to milk
- unique structure
- contains proteins essential for synthesis and secretion of MFG
What are the examples of MFGM?
- butyrophilin
- xanthine
- oxoreductase
TRUE OR FALSE: Milk and mammary genes are more highly conserved than other genes.
TRUE
Explain why it would be low daily investment cost for primate lactation:
- long periods of dependency on parents
- spreads cost of investment but also creates potential for conflict between mother and infant
What is the difference with human and ape lactation?
- higher fat, lower protein
- related to larger brain
What are some facts about the content and features in human lactation?
- high oligosaccharide and sIgA content
- unusual flexibility strategy for feeding young
- shorter periods of lactation and shorter intervals between births
How is the energy cost human lactation reduced?
- depletion of fat stores deposited during pregnancy
- complementary feeding, intro other food alongside milk
What happens in complementary feeding period?
allows mother to shorten lactation period + regain fertility sooner (flexible depending on environment)
- greater reliance on learning and influence of culture
- establish social relationships (rituals, confinement, special diets)
What are the benefits in the mother-infant signalling?
- helps maternal behavior/psychological state
- breast milk involved
- infant behaviour affected
- physical contact and interaction
What are some non-nutrient factors in breast milk?
- oligosaccharides
- bacteria
- microRNAs
- cells
- growth factors
- hormones
What are the stages of milk?
- colostrum
- foremilk
- hindmilk
What is the difference in the early and late milk?
more fat in the latter stages of milk (foremilk and hindmilk)
The nutrient requirements of infants are based on?
- estimated nutrient intakes of healthy breast-fed infants growing normally during the first 6 months
- a mixed approach for infants 6-12 months
What supplements do infants need?
Vitamin K and D
Regarding iron, what happens in the infant during the first few months?
- infants use iron stores acquired during gestation and delivery (placental transfusion)
- don’t rely on iron from milk
- breastmilk has very low iron content (advantage, ‘cause excess iron promotes growth of pathogenic organisms)
Regarding iron, what happens in the infant during the second half of infancy?
- iron stores from birth used up (occurs depending of time of cord clamping, infant sex, growth rate)
- high iron requirements support normal growth and development (iron deficiency can have permanent adverse effects on cognitive development)
What is the BMR of babies?
40-70%
What is the physical activity of babies %?
25-50%
At 0-3months, what is the TEEm, the total energy cost for growth %?
35%
What is the gold standard for feeding infants?
breast milk
What are possible issues when coming up with infant formula composition using breast milk as a model?
- variable breast milk composition
- composition of expressed milk differs from that suckled by infant
- breast milk contains many bioactive substances
- structure of fat/protein differs in milk from different mammals
What are the advantages in doing observational studies?
- rapid results
- disease end-points available
- large sample size
What is the disadvantage in doing observational studies?
non-randomised, can’t demonstrate causality
In terms of 66 analyses made and 3 RCT, what was the % of diarrhoea and respiratory infection that was prevented from breast feeding?
50% diarrhoea
33% respiratory infection
prevented
Malocclusions were reduced by how much % due to breastfeeding?
68%
Breast feeding for longer than 12 months and nocturnal feeding caused how much increase in dental caries in deciduous teeth?
2-3 times increase
What is the most convincing, biologically plausible health effect of breast milk?
reduced risk of infection
Where has the lowest breastfeeding rates in Europe?
UK
What are the reasons for low breastfeeding rates in UK?
- practical problems and lack of appropriate/timely support
- concerns of adequacy of milk supply
- inappropriate advice to supplement formula
- societal attitudes (lack of breastfeeding culture)
- promotion of infant formula
In the pregnant stage, what happens to prepare the mother for breastfeeding?
- proliferation of multiple ducts and lobulo-alveolar structure
- lactogenesis I: increase in mRNA (for milk proteins and enzymes) and also increase in fat droplet size
- milk components produced to increase prolactin
- secretion of colostrum in small amounts
What happens to the milk that isn’t removed?
components reabsorbed via paracellular pathway
In the lactation stage, what happens to the mother during breastfeeding?
- progesterone decreases
- placental lactogen unblock action of prolactin
- paracellular pathway closes, this is the onset of lactogenesis II (copious milk)
lactogenesis II can be delayed by?
- lack of suckling (sick or preterm infant)
- unplanned caesarean section
- prolonged second stage of labour
- maternal obesity
- retained placenta
What can breastfeeding be disrupted by?
- interferes with removal of milk (baby not feeding effectively, frequent use of formula top-ups)
- interferes with milk production or let-down (inadequate breastfeeding stimulation, maternal stress, anxiety, lack of confidence)
