infant nutrition

Infants
Nutritional requirements
Calories-
The energy needed to perform all bodily functions comes from food. The energy content of food is usually expressed in calories, and in an infant the calorie requirements are about 2½ to 3 times those of an adult. During the first 6 months slightly more than 100 calories per kilo are needed, and from 6 months to one year slightly less than 100 per kilo.

Protein-
Most of protein that a baby takes in is used for growth, and the protein requirements during the first 12 months are correspondingly higher than at any other time of life; they are three times as great as those of adults. Milk, provides all the protein that an infant needs, if given in adequate amounts. Milk, yoghurt and boiled egg yolks are good protein sources in the early stages of weaning.

Vitamins-
Breast milk is short of nothing except vitamin D. The main source of this is the sun, which stimulates the ski...