ABSTRACT
The newborn infant requires nutrition not only for tissue
maintenance and normal metabolism, but also for growth a term newborn grows at a rate of 2530 g per day over the first six months of life, so that weight has doubled by the age of
five months. The newborn infant is in a ‘critical epoch’ of
development not only for the organism as a whole, but also
for the individual organs and most significantly for the brain,
so a significant period of inadequate nutrition may not only
affect short-term outcomes, but may also be a risk factor for
the long-term menace of stunted mental and physical
development. As well as providing the components necessary
for increase in tissue mass, adequate provision of the
nutrients required to mount an appropriate immune re-
sponse is extremely important, as infection and sepsis may
impair growth and neurodevelopmental outcome.1 Hence,
where indicated, early intervention with appropriate artificial
nutritional support is of paramount importance.
