PATTERNS OF FAT EXCRETION IN FECES OF PREMATURE INFANTS FED VARIOUS PREPARATIONS OF MILK

Abstract

Four groups of infants were fed diets containing various types and amounts of fat. The per cent of fat absorbed was not significantly different, irrespective of amount of fat or protein in the diet, in three groups in which the source was animal fat. In a fourth group, in which corn oil was substituted for animal fat, there was a significantly greater degree of fat absorption. The usually observable improvement in the ability of prematurely born infants to absorb fat with increasing age and weight did not appear to play a role in the differences observed in this study. There was a relatively constant output of saturated fatty acid with each of the diets, the per cent of the stool being made up of these acids varying more with the type of diet than with the per cent fat being absorbed. The last finding suggests that the source of fat in the stool of the premature infant is virtually all exogenous in origin and that the wide variations in fat output in the stools normally encountered cannot be accounted for on the basis of endogenous losses.