Publications

The Learning Lead - Volume 1 2023: Nutrition for Catch-up Growth in Young Children

Normal growth is one of the best indicators of a child’s overall health and wellbeing. “Growth faltering” refers to a pattern of slower weight gain than is expected for a child’s age and gender, or a failure to grow at a normal rate that is comparable to the child’s peers. The most common cause of poor growth is inadequate intake of energy, protein, and micronutrients, which can result from disease- or non-disease-related factors. Energy and protein are critical for catch-up growth, which must take a child’s baseline requirements into account, as well as the additional calories and protein they need for new tissue synthesis. Initiating nutritional assessment and treatment early in young children with growth concerns is critical to preventing adverse consequences.

A consequence of prematurity is impaired neurodevelopment, as preterm infants miss an important period of brain growth that would have occurred in utero. The most important objective of nutritional management of the preterm infant is the prevention of growth failure in order to protect the infant’s brain. Breast milk is the best for preterm infant nutrition, it has been shown to confer improved short- and long-term outcomes such as lower rates of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) and neurodevelopmental advantages. More recently, research has demonstrated an association between increased nutrients such as protein and energy and positive developmental outcomes.