Influence of Nature of Infant Nutrition on Formation of Body Resistance

Abstract

Purpose of the Study: Assessment of the influence of the type of the adapted infant milk formula in infants on the formation of the body resistance. Children Characteristics and Study Methods. 105 virtually healthy children were examined, as follows: 35 children were breastfed (control group), 70 children were formula fed including 35 children that received NENNY with prebiotics formula based on the goat milk (main group), 35 children – formulas based on the cow milk with probiotics and prebiotics (comparison group). The incidence rate of the acute respiratory diseases (ARD) as well as the number of the pneumonia histories in the infants were assessed, and the body resistance index was calculated. The laboratory assessment of the child body immunoresistance was carried out using the method of imprint smears from the nasal mucous membranes and the method of nasal washes. Results. It was determined that there were 2 times more children of the main group with no history of the acute respiratory diseases when infant than in the comparison group. In general, the good resistance (were sick 0-3 times a year) in the main group was registered in 82.9% of the children, while it was only 60% in the comparison group. The average number of the ARD cases per year was 2.3 ± 0.02 in the main group, which is 1.5 times less than in the comparison group – 3.6 ± 0.04 (p <0.05), and in 1, 3 times more than that in the control group – 1.8 + 0.03 (p<0.05). In average, the resistance index was 0.28 ± 0.02 in the main group, while it was 0.36 ± 0.03 in the comparison group, and 0.25 ± 0.02 in the control group. When studying the incidence rate of the community-acquired pneumonia in the infants, it was revealed that 2.8% of them were ill in the control group, 5.7% of them in the main group, and 8.5% in the comparison group. When feeding the child with formulas based on the goat’s milk, the level of mucosal immunity of the nasal mucosa and enzyme systems of the intraleukocyte microbicidal system is assured, which is virtually indistinguishable from the level of immunity achieved with breastfeeding. Conclusion. Adapted NENNY with prebiotics formulas can be recommended for children who are formula fed when infant in order to increase the body’s resistance and to reduce the incidence rate of the acute respiratory diseases and community-acquired pneumonia.