1 Department of Nutrition Services, Division of Gastroenterology and Nutrition, Division of Metabolism, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Department of Pediatrics, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Dietary caloric restriction, as a means to induce weight loss, is seldom used as a treatment of obesity in infancy for fear that permanent stunting of growth may result.1-4 Thus, there is little information on controlled weight loss as the treatment for infant obesity or, more importantly, its effect on growth in length, head circumference, and fat-free body mass during weight loss.5 We present a case of an obese infant who, secondary to a metabolic disorder, required nutritional support both intravenously and by nasogastric tube. During 15 months, the patient's resting energy expenditure (REE) was measured to determine an appropriate caloric intake to promote weight loss and later weight maintenance.
Submitted on November 12, 1990