Early-Life Nutrition and Cognitive Development: Imaging Approaches.

Brain development in the first years of life is the most dynamic and perhaps the most important phase of brain maturation. While it is widely recognized that nutrition plays a key role in early brain development, particular nutrients will most likely differentially affect distinct aspects of brain development. The critical dosage windows and time frames for various nutrients at different stages of brain development are likely dissimilar.

Infant Feeding Regimens and Gastrointestinal Tolerance: A Multicenter, Prospective, Observational Cohort Study in China.

To study feeding tolerance in infants fed formula with increased -2 palmitate and oligofructose (-2+OF) in a real-world setting, healthy Chinese infants were enrolled in this 48-day observational study on their current feeding regimens: exclusively breastfed (BF; n = 147), exclusively -2+OF formula-fed (FF; n = 150), or mixed-fed with breast milk and -2+OF formula (MF; n = 163). Throughout the study, incidence (90% confidence interval) of hard stools was ≤2.1% (0.

Nutrient intake and dietary patterns in children 2.5-5 years of age with picky eating behaviours and low weight-for-height.

Background And Objectives: Picky eating behaviours are common in young children and may adversely affect dietary intake. This study examined the adequacy of dietary patterns and nutrient intake in preschool-aged children in China and Hong Kong with picky eating behaviours and weight-for-height in the lowest quartile of the WHO Growth Standards.

Methods And Study Design: Dietary intake was assessed using baseline 3-day food records from a multicenter, randomized trial in Chinese children (N=151) ages 2.

Infant feeding and health-related quality of life in healthy Chinese infants: results from a prospective, observational cohort study.

Background: Infant feeding regimens, including breastfeeding, formula-feeding, or a combination of the two, may influence infant health-related quality of life (HRQOL). However, few studies have examined this association.

Methods: This prospective cohort study assessed HRQOL in relation to three parent-selected feeding regimens: exclusively breastfed (n = 136), exclusively study formula-fed (n = 140), and mixed-fed with study formula and breast milk (n = 151).

Validation of a Parent Report Questionnaire: The Infant Gastrointestinal Symptom Questionnaire.

Objective: To evaluate the reliability and validity of the Infant Gastrointestinal Symptom Questionnaire (IGSQ), a tool to assess feeding tolerance in infants.

Methods: Qualitative methods were used to develop IGSQ content across 5 symptom clusters, yielding a 13-item index of parent-reported infant digestion and elimination behaviors over the prior 7 days. Classical psychometric methods evaluated factor structure, interrater and retest reliability, and validity in 4 prospective studies of 836 infants.

Stool fatty acid soaps, stool consistency and gastrointestinal tolerance in term infants fed infant formulas containing high sn-2 palmitate with or without oligofructose: a double-blind, randomized clinical trial.

Background: Formula-fed (FF) infants often have harder stools and higher stool concentrations of fatty acid soaps compared to breastfed infants. Feeding high sn-2 palmitate or the prebiotic oligofructose (OF) may soften stools, reduce stool soaps, and decrease fecal calcium loss.

Methods: We investigated the effect of high sn-2 palmitate alone and in combination with OF on stool palmitate soap, total soap and calcium concentrations, stool consistency, gastrointestinal (GI) tolerance, anthropometrics, and hydration in FF infants.

Randomized controlled trial to compare growth parameters and nutrient adequacy in children with picky eating behaviors who received nutritional counseling with or without an oral nutritional supplement.

In this study, changes in growth parameters and nutrient intake were compared in Chinese children (ages 30-60 months) with picky eating (PE) behaviors and weight-for-height ≤25th percentile, who were randomized to receive nutrition counseling alone (NC; n = 76) or with a nutritional milk supplement (NC + NS; n = 77) for 120 days. Increases in weight-for-height z-scores were significantly greater in the NC + NS group at days 30 and 90 and over the entire study period (all P < 0.05), but not at day 120.

Effect of an α-lactalbumin-enriched infant formula supplemented with oligofructose on fecal microbiota, stool characteristics, and hydration status: a randomized, double-blind, controlled trial.

Aims: To evaluate the impact of oligofructose (OF)-supplemented infant formula on fecal microbiota, stool characteristics, and hydration.

Methods: Ninety-five formula-fed infants were randomized to α-lactalbumin-enriched control formula (CF) or identical formula with 3.0 g/L OF (EF) for 8 weeks; 50 infants fed human milk (HM) were included.

Effects of term infant formulas containing high sn-2 palmitate with and without oligofructose on stool composition, stool characteristics, and bifidogenicity.

Objectives: Levels of stool fatty acid soaps and beneficial bacteria differ between formula-fed and breast-fed infants; addition of specific formula ingredients may reduce these differences. This study evaluated the effects of a term infant formula containing high sn-2 palmitate term infant formula (sn-2) or an identical formula supplemented with oligofructose (OF) at 2 concentrations (sn-2+3 g/L OF, sn-2+5 g/L OF) on stool composition, stool characteristics, and fecal bifidobacteria.

Methods: Healthy, term formula-fed infants 7 to 14 days old (n = 300) were randomized in a double-blind manner to receive standard formula (control), sn-2, sn-2+3 g/L OF, or sn-2+5 g/L OF for 8 weeks.

Body-composition assessment in infancy: air-displacement plethysmography compared with a reference 4-compartment model.

Background: A better understanding of the associations of early infant nutrition and growth with adult health requires accurate assessment of body composition in infancy.

Objective: This study evaluated the performance of an infant-sized air-displacement plethysmograph (PEA POD Infant Body Composition System) for the measurement of body composition in infants.

Design: Healthy infants (n = 49; age: 1.

Child-specific thoracic gas volume prediction equations for air-displacement plethysmography.

Objective: To develop child-specific thoracic gas volume (TGV) prediction equations for use in air-displacement plethysmography in 6- to 17-year-old children.

Research Methods And Procedures: Study 1 developed TGV prediction equations using anthropometric variables after completing a measured TGV and air-displacement plethysmography test in 224 healthy boys and girls (11.2 +/- 3.

Validation of a new pediatric air-displacement plethysmograph for assessing body composition in infants.

Background: The accurate measurement of body composition is useful in assessments of infant growth and nutritional status.

Objective: This study evaluated the reliability and accuracy of a new air-displacement plethysmography (ADP) system for body-composition assessment in infants.

Design: Between- and within-day reliability was assessed by comparing the percentage body fat (%BF) obtained on consecutive days and on the same day, respectively, in 36 full-term infants.

Dietary pattern is associated with homocysteine and B vitamin status in an urban Chinese population.

To identify existing dietary patterns and examine associations between these patterns and plasma homocysteine and B vitamin concentrations in an urban Chinese population living in Beijing (n = 119), dietary information was collected with a food frequency questionnaire designed for this population. Plasma homocysteine and B vitamin concentrations were examined. Food group variables, expressed as percentages of total energy intake, were entered into cluster analysis to define three distinct dietary pattern groups.

Relative influence of diet and physical activity on body composition in urban Chinese adults.

Background: The relative influence of diet and physical activity on body fatness remains uncertain.

Objective: The objective of the study was to investigate associations of dietary variables and physical activity with body fatness in urban Chinese adults.

Design: We conducted a cross-sectional study in 130 weight-stable men and women aged 35-49 y.

Field methods for body composition assessment are valid in healthy chinese adults.

There is little information on the accuracy of simple body composition methods in non-Western populations. We determined the percentage of body fat (%BF) by isotope dilution [oxygen-18 (H(2)(18)O) and deuterium oxide ((2)H(2)O)] and anthropometry in 71 healthy, urban Chinese adults aged 35-49 y [body mass index (BMI) 18-35 kg/m(2)]. The accuracy of several prediction equations for assessment of %BF from skinfold measurements was evaluated against %BF determined by H(2)(18)O dilution.