TY - JOUR
T1 - Infant body composition
T2 - A comprehensive overview of assessment techniques, nutrition factors, and health outcomes
AU - Jerome, Maggie L.
AU - Valcarce, Vivian
AU - Lach, Laura
AU - Itriago, Elena
AU - Salas, Ariel A.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition.
PY - 2023/10
Y1 - 2023/10
N2 - Body composition assessment is a valuable tool for clinical assessment and research that has implications for long-term health. Unlike traditional measurements such as anthropometrics or body mass index, body composition assessments provide more accurate measures of body fatness and lean mass. Moreover, depending on the technique, they can offer insight into regional body composition, bone mineral density, and brown adipose tissue. Various methods of body composition assessment exist, including air displacement plethysmography, dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry, bioelectrical impedance, magnetic resonance imaging, D3 creatine, ultrasound, and skinfold thickness, each with its own strengths and limitations. In infants, several feeding practices and nutrition factors are associated with body composition outcomes, such as breast milk vs formula feeding, protein intake, breast milk composition, and postdischarge formulas for preterm infants. Longitudinal studies suggest that body composition in infancy predicts later body composition, obesity, and other cardiometabolic outcomes in childhood, making it a useful early marker of cardiometabolic health in both term and preterm infants. Emerging evidence also suggests that body composition during infancy predicts neurodevelopmental outcomes, particularly in preterm infants at high risk of neurodevelopmental impairment. The purpose of this narrative review is to provide clinicians and researchers with a comprehensive overview of body composition assessment techniques, summarize the links between specific nutrition practices and body composition in infancy, and describe the neurodevelopmental and cardiometabolic outcomes associated with body composition patterns in term and preterm infants.
AB - Body composition assessment is a valuable tool for clinical assessment and research that has implications for long-term health. Unlike traditional measurements such as anthropometrics or body mass index, body composition assessments provide more accurate measures of body fatness and lean mass. Moreover, depending on the technique, they can offer insight into regional body composition, bone mineral density, and brown adipose tissue. Various methods of body composition assessment exist, including air displacement plethysmography, dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry, bioelectrical impedance, magnetic resonance imaging, D3 creatine, ultrasound, and skinfold thickness, each with its own strengths and limitations. In infants, several feeding practices and nutrition factors are associated with body composition outcomes, such as breast milk vs formula feeding, protein intake, breast milk composition, and postdischarge formulas for preterm infants. Longitudinal studies suggest that body composition in infancy predicts later body composition, obesity, and other cardiometabolic outcomes in childhood, making it a useful early marker of cardiometabolic health in both term and preterm infants. Emerging evidence also suggests that body composition during infancy predicts neurodevelopmental outcomes, particularly in preterm infants at high risk of neurodevelopmental impairment. The purpose of this narrative review is to provide clinicians and researchers with a comprehensive overview of body composition assessment techniques, summarize the links between specific nutrition practices and body composition in infancy, and describe the neurodevelopmental and cardiometabolic outcomes associated with body composition patterns in term and preterm infants.
KW - anthropometrics
KW - bioelectrical impedance
KW - body composition
KW - creatine
KW - magnetic resonance imaging
KW - newborn infant
KW - photon absorptiometry
KW - plethysmography
KW - ultrasound
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U2 - 10.1002/ncp.11059
DO - 10.1002/ncp.11059
M3 - Review article
C2 - 37721459
AN - SCOPUS:85171362573
SN - 0884-5336
VL - 38
SP - S7-S27
JO - Nutrition in Clinical Practice
JF - Nutrition in Clinical Practice
IS - S2
ER -