Nutrition & Growth in Preterm Infants After Discharge | Part 7 Bridging Research and Practice in Pediatric Nutrition

Growth, catch-up growth and outcomes in preterm infants
Serial measurements of length, head circumference, and weight are needed for a comprehensive assessment of an infant's overall growth pattern. Good neurodevelopmental outcomes are associated with catch-up growth, where most infants’ growth parameters reach and remain within growth chart curves by the age of 3 years corrected age. The growth of healthy infants and those with growth alterations overlap. If a preterm infant's age is not corrected for their prematurity, their growth will appear to be growing sub-optimally. There is no need for a trade-off between optimum cognition and optimum future health. Each high-risk infant needs individualized nutrition and growth assessments.

Tanis Fenton, PhD, RD, FDC
University of Calgary

Dr. Tanis Fenton is a Registered Dietitian, Epidemiologist and Adjunct Professor at the University of Calgary’s Cumming School of Medicine. Known as the developer of the Fenton preterm infant growth charts, she works to improve child growth assessments and is considered a thought leader for this topic. The Fenton growth charts are used around the world, have been built into several electronic medical records, apps and clinical tools, as well as included in over 45 textbooks. Her webpage for downloading these charts and related tools has logged over 450,000 unique users from 191 countries.

Post discharge nutrition challenges in preterm infants
The first months after discharge is a high-risk period for poor nutrition and growth failure, but also for overfeeding. It is thus important to identify preterm infants at risk and to follow nutrition and growth closely. Customizing nutritional strategies for preterm infants after discharge is crucial to ensure their optimal growth, neurodevelopment, and to prevent long-term noncommunicable diseases. Throughout the first year of life, the focus should be on achieving appropriate or balanced catch-up growth and avoiding overfeeding to prevent future health risks. Nutritional strategies include breastmilk, enriched formulas when needed, introduction of complementary foods when the infant is neurologically ready, and providing micronutrient supplementation.

Magnus Domellöf, MD, PhD
Umeå University

Magnus Domellöf is Professor of Pediatrics at Umeå University and Senior consultant in Neonatology at Umeå University Hospital, Sweden.
He received his PhD degree at Umeå University in collaboration with the University of California, Davis. He is currently leading several large research projects related to neonatology, paediatric nutrition and neurodevelopment and has, according to Scopus, more than 270 publications in the field; an h-index of 67 and more than 15 000 citations. He is a longstanding member of the European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, and chaired the society’s Committee on Nutrition between 2018-2021. Prof Domellöf is the chair of the Nutrition Committee of the Swedish Neonatal Society and is Director of Research and Quality Improvement at the neonatal intensive care unit at Umeå University Hospital since 2021. Professor Domellöf can be contacted at [email protected]

Case Study: A Practical Approach to Post-Discharge Feeding and Growth in Preterm Infants.

Heather Resvick, RD, PhD candidateWestern University and Children's Hospital, London health Sciences Centre

Dr. Mouzaki is a Pediatric Gastroenterologist in the Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. She is the Clinical Director of Advanced Nutrition Services at CCHMC and a Professor at the University of Cincinnati. Dr. Mouzaki received her MD from the National and Kapodistrian Medical School of Athens, Greece and then completed her Residency Training in General Pediatrics at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center in Pennsylvania. She completed her Fellowship Training in Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition at the Hospital for Sick Children and obtained a Masters in Science from the Institute of Medical Sciences at the University of Toronto. She is board certified in pediatric gastroenterology, in nutrition and in obesity medicine. Her clinical and translational research focuses on pediatric metabolic dysfunction associated steatotic liver disease.Heather Resvick holds a Bachelor of Science, Honors Specialization in Nutrition and Dietetics, a Master of Science in Food and Nutrition and is currently a PhD candidate in the Faculty of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, specializing in Food, Nutrition, and Human Ecology at Western University. Heather became a Registered Dietitian in 2021 and holds clinical positions in Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition, and the Post-Discharge Nutrition Clinic at Children’s Hospital, London Health Sciences Centre in London ON. Her doctoral research focuses on feeding, growth and long-term health outcomes in premature, low-birth- weight, and small-for-gestational-age infants. Her work also examines breastfeeding growth outcomes in these high-risk populations. Heather has presented her research both nationally and internationally.