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 25–30 g per day over the first 6 months of life, so that weight has doubled by the age of 5 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 response 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.
