Neonatal nutrition adequacy is often determined by infant weight gain. The aim of this review is to summarize what is currently known about neonatal body composition and the use of body composition as a measure for adequate neonatal nutrition. Unlike traditional anthropometric measures of height and weight, body composition measurements account for fat vs nonfat mass gains. This provides a more accurate picture of neonatal composition of weight gain. Providing adequate neonatal nutrition in the form of quantity and composition can be a challenge, especially when considering the delicate balance of providing adequate nutrition to preterm infants for catch-up growth. Monitoring weight gain as fat mass and nonfat mass while documenting dietary intake of fat, protein, and carbohydrate in formulas may help provide the medical community the tools to provide optimal nutrition for catch-up growth and for improved neurodevelopmental outcomes. Tracking body composition in term and preterm infants may also provide critical future information concerning the nutritional state of infants who go on to develop future disease such as obesity, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia as adolescents or adults.
Keywords: body composition; human milk; infant; infant formula; intensive care unit; nutrition assessment; premature infant; weight gain.
© 2015 American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition.