Infant Nutrition

Few people doubt that the mother's milk provides the best food for the full-terrn infant during the first few months of life, when the digestive, absorptive and excretory systems are relatively immature. The develop­ ment of the digestive enzymes is detailed in Chapter 4. The significance of this immaturity first emerged as a consequence of the pioneering work of Professor Robert McCance and Dr Elsie Widdowson in human nutrition, when they studied the electrolyte and nitrogen excretion of babie