
Writing in the journal Nutrients, researchers in the United States analyzed data from 5,515 infants to evaluate how cow-milk-based infant formula types and breastfeeding affect growth in infants and toddlers under the age of three.
Results indicated a correlation between use of non-standard infant formula, such as those marketed as “gentle digestion,” or “hypoallergenic”, and greater weight gain in the first year of life, in comparison to standard formula and breastmilk.
“These findings raise important questions about the metabolic and growth-related consequences of altered formula composition during infancy,” the researchers wrote.