Estimation of breast milk intake by test-weighing and nutrient intake by taiwanese infants before 6 months of age

Information on the nutrient intake of breast-fed infants is limited by a lack of quantitative data in Taiwan. This study had 2 purposes: to assess the breast milk intake by test-weighing infants from birth to 6 months of age and referring to published papers to calculate the daily breast milk consumption by age; the other was to estimate the nutrient intake from breast milk and supplemental food from 97 exclusively breastfed infants, and compare those values to dietary reference intake (DRI) values in Taiwan. In the test-weighing study, we recruited 15 breastfed infants (from birth to 6 months of age), then estimated the daily breast milk intake. We estimated intakes of 530, 580, 620, 670, 720, and 760 g of breast milk per day by linear regression for the first 6 months of life, respectively[?]. In the nutrient intake study, we used estimation data to calculate the nutrient intake of 97 infants. The infants had an average energy intake of 523 kcal, an average protein intake of 13 g, an average fat intake of 22 g, and an average carbohydrate intake of 69 g in the 6th month. The total energy and percentage of carbohydrates of the total energy intake increased with age, while the fat intake was reduced with age. The main findings are: (1 ) the average number of feedings per day was 7.6∼9.6 times, and the breast milk intake per feeding was 52∼112 g; and (2) the nutrient intake of exclusively breast-fed infants was generally lower than the DRIs in Taiwan.