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Studies undertaken with a-lactalbumin-enriched formulae never addressed infants with colic. This study evaluated the nutritional adequacy, the gastrointestinal tolerance and the effect on colic of an a-lactalbumin-enriched and probioticsupplemented formula. A double-blind, placebo-controlled study enrolled 66 healthy infants with colic, aged 3 weeks to 3 months, fed during 1 month with the either experimental formula (EF, Modilac Digest 1) or control formula (CF) and evaluated for efficacy and safety parameters at days 15 and 30. Weight and height gains were identical in the two groups and complied with standards (1023.4±360.4 g (EF) and 1047.4±372.1 g (CF), NS; 4.2±1.4 cm (EF) and 4.3±1.9 cm (CF), NS). No differences were found between groups for crying duration. 'Feeding-related' gastrointestinal side effects were significantly lower with EF than with CF (P ¼ 0.011). An a-lactalbumin-enriched and probiotic-supplemented formula guaranteed good weight and length gains to infants with colic and seemed to provide good gastrointestinal tolerance.

Iron nutrition was measured in 84 low-birth-weight infants. At birth, they were assigned to three groups: preterm infants appropriate for gestational age (n = 29); preterm infants small for gestational age (n = 17); and full-term infants small for gestational age (n = 38). A sub-sample of infants was supplemented with iron 3 mg/kg from two to four months of age. At birth, preterm appropriate-for-gestational-age infants had a lower hemoglobin concentration than full-term small-for-gestational-age infants (p < 0.01) and a higher serum ferritin than preterm small-for-gestational-age infants (p < 0.05). In the non-supplemented group, full-term small-for-gestational-age infants had significantly higher hemoglobin concentrations at four months of age. At this age, iron-supplemented preterm infants appropriate or small for gestational age had significantly higher hemoglobin levels than non-supplemented subjects, while iron supplementation did not have an effect on final hemoglobin concentration in full-term small-for-gestational-age infants. We conclude that preterm infants, irrespective of their adequacy for gestational age, show evidence of iron deficiency before four months of age. Full-term infants do not develop iron deficiency up to this age.