O-38 Differences in biomarkers of iron stores and growth by breastfeeding status in infancy.
Author(s):
Sherine Whyte , Marvin Reid
Year of Presentation:
2022
Objective: To determine the differences in biomarker iron status, IGF-1 concentrations and body composition at 1 year by early breastfeeding status.
Methods: A longitudinal and observational study with 30 child-mother pairs recruited from the University Hospital of the West Indies. Breast milk intake was measured at 6 weeks using dose to mother deuterium dilution technique. Haemoglobin levels, Ferritin and IGF-1 concentration were measured at 12 months. Summary statistics was used to summarise the data and presented as mean (standard deviation) and multiple linear regressions analyses were used to examine the relationships between breast milk intake, iron status, IGF-1 and growth and body composition with a significance level of 0.05.
Results: Ten infants were found to be exclusively breastfed with mean intake of breast milk to be 1001.6 ± 278.5 g/day contrasting with 20 infants who were not exclusively breastfed consuming 697.9 ± 374.2 g/day of breastmilk. Haemoglobin, ferritin and IGF-1 levels at 12 months in the exclusively breastfed group were 11.1 ± 1.2 g/dL, 2.87 ± 1.1 ng/ mL and 2.6 ± 0.5 ng/mL while the mixed fed group values were 11.5 ± 0.8 g/dL, 3.58 ± 1.1 ng/mL and 3.0 ± 0 ng/mL respectively. The mean level of all three markers were not significantly different between the two groups of infants. The growth parameters were not significantly different between the groups.
Conclusion: In this study, all the infants were receiving breastmilk at 6 weeks. The additional foods given to the infants who were mixed fed, may not have been sufficient to produce a measurable effect on the markers in question.