Effects of early life protein intake on physical and neuropsychological development of preterm infants aged 0-24 month：a longitudinal cohort study of High-Risk Infant

Abstract

Purpose: To investigated whether high protein intake in early life contribute to physical and mental development in preterm infants aged 0-24 months, then analyzed the association between protein intake and incidence of obesity. Methods: A total of 174 preterm infants were recruited for a cohort study related to Guangzhou High-Risk Infant, and were divided into a high protein intake group (HP, n=21) and a common protein intake group (LP, n=153) based on their average protein intake at the age of 0~6 months. Body weight, body length, and BMI and their Z-scores was calculated, and the Gesell development and infant neuropsychological examination screening were used to assess child mental development. Multivariate Linear regression models were used to assess the correlation between protein intake and physical development, and the multivariate logistic regression was used to analyze the association between protein intake and the level of mental development and the incidence of obesity. Results: The average protein intake in HP and LP group were 3.76±0.62g/kg/day and 1.67±0.49g/kg/day, respectively. The body weight, body length, BMI, and their Z-scores in the HP group was significantly lower than LP group during aged 6 to18 months. There a negatively correlation between protein intake and physical development level at aged 6~12 months. No significant association was found between protein intake and the mental development and the incidence of obesity. Conclusions: A higher protein intake in early life (0~6^th month) did not contribute to the development of physical and neuropsychological and have no effect on the incidence of obesity and Neuropsychological development in preterm infants aged 0-24 months.