Skip to main content
ARS Home » Southeast Area » Little Rock, Arkansas » Microbiome and Metabolism Research Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #291223
Title: Body fat and bone mineral content of infants fed breast-milk, cow's-milk formula, or soy formula during the first year of life

Author
item ANDRES, ALINE - Arkansas Children'S Nutrition Research Center (ACNC)
item CASEY, PATRICK - University Arkansas For Medical Sciences (UAMS)
item CLEVES, MARIO - Arkansas Children'S Nutrition Research Center (ACNC)
item Badger, Thomas

Submitted to: Journal of Pediatrics
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/19/2012
Publication Date: 7/1/2013
Citation: Andres, A., Casey, P., Cleves, M., Badger, T.M. 2013. Body fat and bone mineral content of infants fed breast-milk, cow's-milk formula, or soy formula during the first year of life. Journal of Pediatrics. 163(1):49-54.

Interpretive Summary: This study characterize the growth, body composition, and skeletal health of healthy infants fed breast milk, cow's milk formula or soy formula during the first year of life. Compared to formula-fed infants, breast-fed infants were fatter at age 3 months. Soy formula-fed infants were leaner at ages 6 and 9 months compared to cow's milk formula-fed infants. By age 12 months, formula-fed infants had significantly greater bone mineral content than breast-fed infants. In conclusion, infants fed soy formula were leaner throughout the first year of life and had greater bone mineral accretion during the first year of life. Although the body composition profiles are strikingly different between these diet groups, the implications for long-term health outcomes and bone health are not yet clear.

Technical Abstract: Our objective was to characterize growth, fat mass (FM), fat free mass (FFM), and bone mineral content (BMC) longitudinally in breast-fed (BF), cow's milk formula-fed (CMF), or soy formula-fed (SF) healthy infants during the first year of life. Infants were assessed at ages 3, 6, 9, and 12 mo. Growth was evaluated using standard anthropometric techniques, and body composition was assessed using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Mixed effects models with repeated measures were used while adjusting for race, SES, gestational age, birth weight, birth length, sex, infant age, and diet history. Compared to formula fed (FF) infants, FM (kg) was higher in BF infants at age 3 mo; whereas, FFM (kg) was lower between ages 6 and 12 mo (P<0.001). SF infants had greater FFM at ages 6 and 9 mo compared to CMF infants (P<0.001). BMC (g) was higher in BF and lower in SF infants at age 3 mo (P<0.001). By age 12 mo, FF infants had significantly greater BMC than BF infants. Infants fed CMF and SF had significantly different fat and bone accretion trajectories, and infants fed FF were significantly different from infants fed BF. Infants fed SF had a leaner body phenotype throughout the first year of life, lower bone mineralization by age 3 mo, and greater bone mineral accretion during the first year of life than infants fed BF and CMF. Although the body composition profiles are strikingly different between these diet groups, the implications for long-term health outcomes and bone health are not yet clear.