Rationale
Proper nutrition promotes growth and helps maintain health. A number of pediatric conditions present as aberrations of growth where nutritional assessment is central to diagnosis and treatment.

Objectives

• Outline the nutritional needs of infants in the first year of life (i.e. Calories, water, carbohydrate, lipids, vitamins, minerals)
• Explain the benefits and disadvantages of
  • Breast feeding
  • Formula feeding
• Describe the lactation process and the basic composition of human milk
• Describe differences and similarities between human milk and commonly used cow milk-based and soy-based formulas.
• Provide advice to parents about infant feeding:
  • Cues given by the infant to indicate hunger
  • How to determine adequacy of feeding frequency and volume
  • Breast feeding techniques
  • Volume and types of infant formula
  • Vitamin and mineral supplementation
  • Introduction of foods other than human milk or formula
  • When to introduce cow milk into the diet
• Recognize when nutritional assessment is necessary beyond infancy, and demonstrate how to obtain a daily diet diary with the assistance of a nutritionist.