Abstract
Extract: In a previous publication we predicted that growth as measured by 40K is best described by comparison of the semilog function of total body potassium (TBK) vs. length with a slope that differs in infants from that of children aged 3–18 years. Data for 84 infants having three or more measurements during the first year of life attest to this hypothesis, with a regression line for TBK and length: loge K, g = −;0.265 + 0.04112 length in centimeters.
Speculation: The increasing rate of 40K accumulation between birth and the age of 1–2 years is compatible with the hypothesis that changes of body composition from that of the neonate to that of the adult is a steady process and that it is completed by the time the infant reaches a length of about 90 cm. This process is independent of sex and initial feeding within the conditions of this study. Further methodology refinements will be needed to determine the events occurring in low birth weight infants. The role of protein-calorie malnutrition in this process warrants study.
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Rutledge, M., Clark, J., Woodruff, C. et al. A Longitudinal Study of Total Body Potassium in Normal Breastfed and Bottle-fed Infants. Pediatr Res 10, 114–117 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197602000-00009
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197602000-00009
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