Abstract
Background. Malnourished infants are small for age and weight. Objectives. Determine profiles in 24-hour energy metabolism in recovering malnourished infants and compare to similarly aged healthy controls. Methods. 10 malnourished infants (58.1 ± 5.9 cm, 7.7 ± 5.6 months) were healthy prior to spending 22 hours in the Enhanced Metabolic Testing Activity Chamber for measurement of EE (kcal/min), sleeping metabolic rate (SMR; kcal/min), respiratory quotient (RQ; VCO2/VO2), and physical activity (PA; oscillations in wt/min/kg body weight). Metabolic data were extrapolated to 24 hours (kcal/kg/d). Energy intake (kcal/kg/d) and the proportions (%) of carbohydrate, protein, and fat were calculated. Anthropometrics for malnourished infants were obtained. Statistical differences (P < .05) between groups were determined (SPSS, version 13). Results. In comparison to controls, malnourished infants were lighter (4.1 ± 1.2 versus 7.3 ± 0.8 kg; P < .05), had less body fat % (10.3 ± 7.6 versus 25.7 ± 2.5), and lower BMI (12.0 ± 1.7 versus 15.5 ± 1.5; P < .05). In contrast, they had greater energy intake (142.7 ± 14.6 versus 85.1 ± 25.8; P < .05) with a greater percentage of carbohydrates (55.1 ± 3.9 versus 47.2 ± 5.2; P < .05). However, malnourished infants had greater 24-hour EE (101.3 ± 20.1 versus 78.6 ± 8.4; P < .05), SMR (92.6 ± 17.1 versus 65.0 ± 3.9; P < .05), and RQ (1.00 ± 0.13 versus 0.86 ± 0.08; P < .05) along with a lower amount of PA (2.3 ± 0.94 versus 4.0 ± 1.5; P < .05). Conclusions. Malnourished infants require more energy, possibly for growth.
Highlights
Malnutrition is a consequence of inadequate diet and frequent infections, leading to deficiencies in calories, protein, vitamins, and minerals
All infants who participated in the study were less than the 5th percentile for weight-for-length, length-for-age and weight-for-age according to the NCHS growth charts [9]
The malnourished infants had lower z-scores for length-for-age (P < .05) and weight-for-age (P < .05), in comparison to their healthy counterparts while no differences were found between the two groups for weight-for-length (Table 1)
Summary
Malnutrition is a consequence of inadequate diet and frequent infections, leading to deficiencies in calories, protein, vitamins, and minerals. Other effects of malnutrition include poor brain development [4] possibly leading to poor cognition [5] Another physiological adaptation includes a reduced acute-phase protein response to infection [6]. Determine profiles in 24-hour energy metabolism in recovering malnourished infants and compare to aged healthy controls. In comparison to controls, malnourished infants were lighter (4.1±1.2 versus 7.3±0.8 kg; P < .05), had less body fat % (10.3±7.6 versus 25.7±2.5), and lower BMI (12.0 ± 1.7 versus 15.5 ± 1.5; P < .05) They had greater energy intake (142.7 ± 14.6 versus 85.1 ± 25.8; P < .05) with a greater percentage of carbohydrates (55.1 ± 3.9 versus 47.2 ± 5.2; P < .05).
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