It was interesting to read this article. Although the same number of the babies included in the study were reported to have infections, they did omit any babies who grew up to be neurologically impared: "The sample was restricted to children with a gestational age of 30 weeks or less who had normal findings on neurological examination at 7.5-8 years"  Also, since this was a retrospective study, any babies that died of NEC (or anything else) would also not have been included--they had to live to be 8 yrs old and be normal neurologically. The ones randomly assigned to the Standard Feeding group were of lower birthweight, had lower 5 minute Apgar scores,  had some cases of intraventricular hemmorage, and spent a significant time longer in ventilation.

I don't understand this jargon: "Comparison of group characteristics. Comparisons of the two diet groups on a series of birth status and social characteristics (Table 1) showed significant differences only in birth weight (p< .04) and gestational age (p< .05) with the Standard-nutrient group lighter and slightly less mature at birth. To adjust for any possible confounding, we covaried these variables in data analyses, in addition to age at scan and total brain volume when appropriate. The groups did not differ on variables describing the neonatal course."

What does it mean to covary the variables (only birth weight and gestational  age) and how much would this improve a study on babies born at less than 30 wks gestation? 

If someone could help me out here, I would appreciate it!

Thanks,
Chrissy Bodin
 -------------- Original message ----------------------
From: [log in to unmask]
> The title of the article that Penny is referring to is "The effect of early 
> human diet on caudate volumes and IQ." This is the group of babies?from 1993 
> research?studied by Alan Lucas. As soon as I read who the subjects were it 
> became apparent why the outcome of this study sounded a little fishy. There was 
> as usual, no exclusively breastfed control group. Below is the description of 
> the subjects and the link to the full article which is free.
> 
> Marsha Walker, RN, IBCLC
> Weston, MA
> 
> 
> 
> Subjects. MRI scans and IQ data were obtained from 76 preterm children who were 
> randomly assigned, in the original study, to one of two diet types. The 
> Standard-nutrient group (n=38) received either unsupplemented donated banked 
> breast milk or a standard term formula, both suitable for healthy term infants 
> and used widely for infants born preterm in the 1980s. The High-nutrient diet 
> (n=38) was formulated to meet the increased macronutrient and micronutrient 
> needs of this population 
> MRI scans and IQ data were obtained from 76 preterm children who were randomly 
> assigned, in the original study, to one of two diet types. The Standard-nutrient 
> group (n=38) received either unsupplemented donated banked breast milk or a 
> standard term formula, both suitable for healthy term infants and used widely 
> for infants born preterm in the 1980s. The High-nutrient diet (n=38) was 
> formulated to meet the increased macronutrient and micronutrient needs of this 
> population 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> http://www.pedresearch.org/pt/re/pedresearch/pdfhandler.00006450-900000000-99521
> .pdf;jsessionid=H8nGybLxlVplY4TXsLT7FHvlvp0SLxYwkQDsWffPKBXhl9HyLqZV!-809317659!
> 181195629!8091!-1
> 
> 
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