In recent years the survival of very low birth weight infants (VLBW, birth weight < 1500 g) has increased markedly due to improved neonatal treatment. Adequate supply of nutrients to support healthy growth and cognitive development is one important part o f this treatment.
We recently conducted an intervention trial in 4 Norwegian hospitals including a cohort of 129 VLBW infants. Findings show that most VLBW infants receive lower energy and protein supply during parts of the hospital stay than internation al recommendations suggest, and that a large proportion develops growth retardation. Supplementation of docosahexaenoic acid and arachidonic acid during hospital stay showed positive effects on cognitive functions at 6 months.
We now wish to follow our co hort at 6 years age and further into childhood to examine cognitive functions and growth. Based on previous knowledge from this cohort we also wish to conduct a study on newly recruited VLBW infants. The main aim is to increase energy and protein supply d uring hospital stay and evaluate the effect of this intervention primarily on growth and secondarily on cognitive functions and brain development as evaluated by MRI.