Question

• Describe factors that make infants at risk and how nutritional assessment and interventions address these risks.

• Compare how energy and nutrition needs are interpreted for preterm infants and infants with special health care needs in contrast to healthy full-term infants.

Answer 1

factors that make infants at risk are -

• high blood pressure of the mother
• a mother who has delivered a preterm baby before.
• heavy bleeding and blood clotting problems
• placenta previa - in this the placenta covers the opening of the cervix.
• age of the mother
• other factors such as smoking, drinking alcohol, drugs, etc.

nutritional assessment and interventions to address these risks -

• a low calcium uptake will decrease the problem of hypertension in pregnant women.
• supplementation of vitamin K rich foods to expecting mothers will address the issue of heavy bleeding and blood clotting problems.
• fish oil and vitamins such as vitamins E and C are helpful in preterm delivery.

Compare how energy and nutrition needs are interpreted for preterm infants and infants with special health care needs in contrast to healthy full-term infants.

preterm infants have lower iron sources at birth and their iron content may deplete within 4 months of age due to their rapid growth. breastfeeding, cereals, whole-grain bread, green vegetables, etc have higher iron content.

cysteine and tyrosine are essential for the preterm infants for the enzyme synthesis.

in healthy infants, minimum uptake of 200 IU of vitamin D per day is necessary to prevent rickets. water requirements of a healthy infant are also reconstituted by the breastfeeding.