JACN Did you know that you can get alerts when a new issue is online?
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Koo, W. W.K.
Right arrow Articles by Dow, M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Koo, W. W.K.
Right arrow Articles by Dow, M.
Journal of the American College of Nutrition, Vol. 25, No. 2, 117-122 (2006)
Published by the American College of Nutrition

Palm Olein in the Fat Blend of Infant Formulas: Effect on the Intestinal Absorption of Calcium and Fat, and Bone Mineralization

Winston W.K. Koo, MBBS, FACN, Elaine M. Hockman, PhD and Marilyn Dow, MLIS

Carman and Ann Adams Department of Pediatrics (W.W.K.K.)
Statistical Consultant (E.M.H.), Wayne State University
Detroit Medical Center (W.W.K.K., M.D.), Detroit, Michigan

Address correspondence to: Dr. Winston Koo, Hutzel Hospital, Department of Pediatrics, 3980 John R, Detroit MI 48201. E-mail: wkoo{at}wayne.edu

Objective: To evaluate the published clinical data on the physiologic effects of using palm oil and its low melting fraction, palm olein (PO) as a dominant lipid source in the fat blend in infant formulas.

Design: A systematic search of Medline and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews was performed to retrieve studies comparing infants who received infant formulas containing PO with those who received infant formulas without PO or which contained synthetic triacylglyceride as a source of palmitic acid. Outcomes of interest include intestinal fractional absorption of fat, palmitic acid and calcium; and bone mass. The effect size for each dependent variable in each published study was obtained by standardizing based on the difference in means between non-PO and PO group with respect to the standard deviation of the PO group. Trend analysis of the outcome of interest was performed when 3 or more between group comparisons were available. The comparison of effect size across different studies was based on all available data and includes results that showed no significant difference between infants fed PO or non-PO study formulas in the outcomes of interest.

Results: Nine publications were identified with non-PO and PO comparison groups. The gestational ages of infants in the published studies were between 28 to 42 weeks and postnatal ages were birth to 192 days at study onset. Within each published study, there was some variability in the effect size between non-PO and PO groups. The standardized results were consistently significantly (p < 0.05) positive in favor of the feeding with non-PO formulas with respect to increased intestinal fractional absorption of fat, palmitic acid and calcium. The latter two variables were significantly different by at least 0.6 SD. Bone mass measured as total body bone mineral content was significantly higher in the non-PO group by at least 0.3 SD.

Conclusion: The use of PO in infant formulas to match the human milk content of palmitic acid has unintended physiological consequences including diminished intestinal absorption of fat, palmitic acid and calcium and lower bone mass. The avoidance of PO or its substitution with synthetic triacylglyceride in infant formulas can prevent this detrimental effect.

Abbreviations: PO = palm oil and its low melting fraction, palm olein • BMC = total body bone mineral content • BMD = total body bone mineral density






HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 2006 by the American College of Nutrition.