The smell and taste of food are important to digestion and growth. Does providing preterm infants with the smell and taste of milk at feeding times lead to better weight and measurement results?
The smell and taste of foods are an important element of digestion and growth. It starts gut motility and aids in metabolism. However, for preterm infants in the neonatal intensive care unit, using the smell and taste of milk with tube feeding is not considered a regular component of care, in spite of the poor growth in this cohort. Could this simple, low cost addition to care improve clinical outcomes?1
The randomized, controlled, nonblinded, superiority study was run at 2 perinatal centers between May 2017 and February 2020. Infants were considered eligible if they had a birth weight of less than 1250 g and/or were delivered at less than 29 weeks’ postmenstrual age. Participants were randomly assigned to either routine care or were provided the smell and taste of milk. In addition to the primary outcome of weight z score at the time of discharge, the investigators looked at anthropometric measures at predetermined time points, times of full enteral feeds, and other outcomes linked to prematurity.
A total of 396 infants were randomized with 196 going to the treatment group (51% male; mean postmenstrual age at birth, 27.5 [2.2] weeks) and 200 assigned to the control group (52% male; mean postmenstrual age A at birth, 27.6 (2.3) weeks). The average weight z scores seen at discharge were −0.87 (95% CI, −1.02 to −0.72) for the treatment group and −0.97 (95% CI, −1.11 to −0.83) for the control group (P = .40). Average difference in z scores between the 2 groups at 36 weeks’ postmenstrual age was 0.21 (95% CI, 0.01 to 0.4; P = .04) for head circumference and 0.26 (95% CI, 0.05 to 0.51; P = .04) for length. No clinically notable differences were noted for any other anthropometric, feeding, or health outcomes between the 2 groups.
The investigators concluded that regular exposure to the smell and taste of milk included with tube feeding did not lead to improvements in weight at the time of discharge. However, the exposure appears to lead to some improvements in head circumference and length at 36 weeks’ postmenstrual age. They also note that the intervention has no apparent adverse effects, which along with its low cost could lead to the discovery of other potential benefits in preterm infants.
Reference
1. Beker F, Liley H, Hughes I, et al. Effects on growth of smell and taste of milk during tube feeding of preterm infants. JAMA Pediatr. August 9, 2021. Epub ahead of print. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2021.2336
This article was originally published on Contemporary Pediatrics®.
S4E1: New RNA platform can predict pregnancy complications
February 11th 2022In this episode of Pap Talk, Contemporary OB/GYN® sat down with Maneesh Jain, CEO of Mirvie, and Michal Elovitz, MD, chief medical advisor at Mirvie, a new RNA platform that is able to predict pregnancy complications by revealing the biology of each pregnancy. They discussed recently published data regarding the platform's ability to predict preeclampsia and preterm birth.
Listen
Removing parental consent reduces delays in adolescent abortion care
February 12th 2025A new study links the removal of parental consent requirements for abortion in Massachusetts to significantly earlier gestational age at the time of the procedure, highlighting the impact of reduced barriers on timely reproductive care.
Read More
Variations reported in state-level maternal death causes
February 11th 2025A recent study highlights significant variations in pregnancy-related deaths across US states, emphasizing the need for targeted policies to address homicide, suicide, and drug overdose among pregnant and postpartum individuals.
Read More
AI analysis reveals key risk factors for severe pregnancy outcomes
February 11th 2025A new artificial intelligence-based study found risk factor combinations linked to severe adverse pregnancy outcomes, offering a more personalized and transparent approach to risk assessment in obstetrics.
Read More