ABSORPTION OF MEDIUM CHAIN TRIGLYCERIDE IN THE LOW BIRTH WEIGHT INFANT AND EVALUATION OF MCT MILK FORMULA FOR LOW BIRTH WEIGHT INFANT NUTRITION USEING OF THE LATIN SQUARE TECHNIQUE

Abstract

It is well recognized that MCT (Medium Chain Triglyceride) has a favorable effect on growth of infants with malabsorption syndrome due to impaired fat digestion or absorption.The Low Birth Weight Infants (LBWI) have temporal malabsorption, because of poor butter fat absorption. This is especially true within first 30 days of the infants life. Although absorption of fat is improved using half skimmed milk or milk fortified with vegetable fat, it is still insufficient.The excellent absorption of MCT in the LBWI has been confirmed and the application of MCT substituted milk for the LBWI nutrition was reported with better weight gains (Yamashita, F. et al., 1967).The purpose of this study is to confirm the above data utilizing the Latin square technique in order to contribite both accuracy and impartiality to the results.