Nutritional Profile of Selected Exterogestate Infants in Coimbatore City

The nutritional status of the exterogestate infants in the first year of life depends on the foetal stores of nutrients, maternal diet in pregnancy, the nutritional status of the mother and methods of infant feeding. Nursing the child makes extra demands on the mother consequently there is an increase in her requirements for energy, protein, minerals and vitamins. Only when these requirements are fulfilled the nursing mother can secrete adequate milk of good quality for her growing infant. Hence it is a regrettable fact that breast feeding is on the decline. The health of the infant and its mother must be ensured by disseminating information on the benefits of breast feeding.