Special Medical Food in Premature Child with Postnatal Malnutrition: Clinical Case

Background. Protein-calorie deficiency is common multifactorial medical condition in infants. Nutrition therapy of protein-calorie deficiency in premature infants with special medical food is not always quite effective. It can be associated with residual manifestations of overlapping perinatal pathology.Clinical case description. Extremely premature child with severe protein-calorie deficiency in the late period with combined perinatal pathology (perinatal central nervous system damage and bronchopulmonary dysplasia) was administrated with therapeutic highly nutritious (high-protein/high-energy) milk formula according to individual plan. The positive dynamics in clinical manifestations of the main and associated diseases was noted on nutrition therapy.Conclusion. High-calorie and protein-enriched therapeutic formula can effectively correct protein-calorie deficiency in premature infants with associated perinatal pathology in the recovery period (disfunction compensation).

Examining the Environmental Impacts of the Dairy and Baby Food Industries: Are First-Food Systems a Crucial Missing Part of the Healthy and Sustainable Food Systems Agenda Now Underway?

Food systems are increasingly being understood as driving various health and ecological crises and their transformation is recognised as a key opportunity for planetary health. First-food systems represent an underexplored aspect of this transformation. Despite breastfeeding representing the optimal source of infant nutrition, use of commercial milk formula (CMF) is high and growing rapidly. In this review, we examine the impact of CMF use on planetary health, considering in particular its effects on climate change, water use and pollution and the consequences of these effects for human health. Milk is the main ingredient in the production of CMF, making the role of the dairy sector a key area of attention. We find that CMF use has twice the carbon footprint of breastfeeding, while 1 kg of CMF has a blue water footprint of 699 L; CMF has a significant and harmful environmental impact. Facilitation and protection of breastfeeding represents a key part of developing sustainable first-food systems and has huge potential benefits for maternal and child health.

Beliefs and Norms Associated with the Use of Ultra-Processed Commercial Milk Formulas for Pregnant Women in Vietnam

Commercial milk formula for pregnant women (CMF-PW) is an expensive, ultra-processed food with a high concentration of sugar, the consumption of which may be linked to negative health outcomes. However, CMF-PWs are promoted as beneficial for pregnant women and lactating mothers as well as their children. To date, little is known about the factors associated with the use of CMF-PW among pregnant women. We performed this analysis to examine the association between the use of CMF-PW and related beliefs and norms among pregnant women in Vietnam. We interviewed 268 pregnant women in their second and third trimesters from two provinces and one municipality representing diverse communities in Vietnam. Multinomial (polytomous) logistic regression, structural equation modeling (SEM), and propensity score matching (PSM) analysis were used to examine associations between beliefs and social norms related to CMF-PW and reported consumption, characterized as occasional, recent, and never during the current pregnancy. Overall, 64.6% of pregnant women reported using CMF-PW during the current pregnancy and 34.7% consumed CMF-PW on the day prior to the interview. Strong beliefs that CMF-PW will make a child smart and healthy (53.7%) and the perception that use of CMF-PW is common (70.9%) were associated with increased use on the previous day (beliefs: aOR: 3.56; 95% Confidence Interval (95% CI): 1.65, 7.71; p < 0.01 and social norms aOR: 2.29; 95% CI: 1.13, 4.66; p < 0.05). SEM and PSM analyses confirmed these findings for both occasional and regular CMF-PW use. Results are consistent with observations of CMF-PW product labels and marketing tactics in Vietnam. The prevalent use of CMF-PW in Vietnam is associated with the belief that these products make children smart and healthy and the perceived social norm that most mothers use these products, which mirrors marketing messages and approaches employed by the CMF industry.

NEW GENERATION ADAPTED MILK FORMULAS PRODUCED BY UKRAINIAN MANUFACTURERS FOR FEEDING INFANTS UNDER ONE YEAR

Breastfeeding is known as the only one form of human feeding that formed during the biological evolution. However, when breastfeeding is impossible, the only solution is to use modern adapted milk formulas to nourish infants. One of the most challenging issues is the adaptation of the formula protein quantity and quality to those in breast milk. Reducing the protein content in the adapted formula "Malutka Premium" prevents protein overload of the immature metabolic system of the child. Fats also play an important role in the nutrition of children as they perform two main functions in the body: they serve as structural components of biological cell membranes and energy material. The fatty component of "Malutka Premium" adapted formula is represented by 50% vegetable oils, which provides the required level of polyunsaturated fatty acids. The carbohydrate component of the adapted formula "Malutka Premium1" is represented by lactose; the adapted formula "Malutka Premium 2" also contains dextrinmaltose (30%). Prebiotics oligosaccharides and five most important nucleotides are added to the composition of "Malutka Premium" that enables to normalize the composition of the intestinal microflora and to intensify the digestive processes. Clinical observations of children receiving formulas with oligosaccharides and nucleotides have shown their high efficacy. Children gained weight better and were found as less likely to have functional digestive disorders. Introducing "Malutka premium with the addition of cereals" formulas to the child's diet enables to choose the most appropriate formula taking into account the peculiarities of the child's digestion. Feeding infants with domestic milk formula ensures the balanced intake of all necessary substances required in accordance with the age and allows to parents and paediatricians solve many problems in the nutrition of both healthy children and children with special nutritional needs.

Comparative Structural and Compositional Analyses of Cow, Buffalo, Goat and Sheep Cream

Factors affecting milk and milk fraction composition, such as cream, are poorly understood, with most research and human health application associated with cow cream. In this study, proteomic and lipidomic analyses were performed on cow, goat, sheep and Bubalus bubalis (from now on referred to as buffalo), bulk milk cream samples. Confocal laser scanning microscopy was used to determine the composition, including protein, lipid and their glycoconjugates, and the structure of the milk fat globules. BLAST2GO was used to annotate functional indicators of cream protein. Functional annotation of protein highlighted a broad level of similarity between species. However, investigation of specific biological process terms revealed distinct differences in antigen processing and presentation, activation, and production of molecular mediators of the immune response. Lipid analyses revealed that saturated fatty acids were lowest in sheep cream and similar in the cream of the other species. Palmitic acid was highest in cow and lowest in sheep cream. Cow and sheep milk fat globules were associated with thick patches of protein on the surface, while buffalo and goat milk fat globules were associated with larger areas of aggregated protein and significant surface adsorbed protein, respectively. This study highlights the differences between cow, goat, sheep, and buffalo milk cream, which can be used to support their potential application in functional foods such as infant milk formula.

Breastfeeding, first-food systems and corporate power: a case study on the market and political practices of the transnational baby food industry and public health resistance in the Philippines

Background The aggressive marketing of breastmilk substitutes (BMS) reduces breastfeeding, and harms child and maternal health globally. Yet forty years after the World Health Assembly adopted the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes (The Code), many countries are still to fully implement its provisions into national law. Furthermore, despite The Code, commercial milk formula (CMF) markets have markedly expanded. In this paper, we adopt the Philippines as a case study to understand the battle for national Code implementation. In particular, we investigate the market and political strategies used by the baby food industry to shape the country’s ‘first-food system’, and in doing so, promote and sustain CMF consumption. We further investigate how breastfeeding coalitions and advocates have resisted these strategies, and generated political commitment for a world-leading breastfeeding policy framework and protection law (the ‘Milk Code’). We used a case study design and process tracing method, drawing from documentary and interview data. Results The decline in breastfeeding in the Philippines in the mid-twentieth Century associated with intensive BMS marketing via health systems and consumer advertising. As regulations tightened, the industry more aggressively promoted CMFs for older infants and young children, thereby ‘marketing around’ the Milk Code. It established front groups to implement political strategies intended to weaken the country’s breastfeeding policy framework while also fostering a favourable image. This included lobbying government officials and international organizations, emphasising its economic importance and threats to foreign investment and trade, direct litigation against the government, messaging that framed marketing in terms of women’s choice and empowerment, and forging partnerships. A resurgence in breastfeeding from the mid-1980s onwards reflected strengthening political commitment for a national breastfeeding policy framework and Milk Code, resulting in-turn, from collective actions by breastfeeding coalitions, advocates and mothers. Conclusion The Philippines illustrates the continuing battle for worldwide Code implementation, and in particular, how the baby food industry uses and adapts its market and political practices to promote and sustain CMF markets. Our results demonstrate that this industry’s political practices require much greater scrutiny. Furthermore, that mobilizing breastfeeding coalitions, advocacy groups and mothers is crucial to continually strengthen and protect national breastfeeding policy frameworks and Code implementation.