[Nutritional dilemmas in extremely low birth weight infants and their effects on childhood, adolescence and adulthood].

OBJECTIVE To review the recent medical literature on nutrition of extremely low birth weight infants, focusing on nutritional disorders and their effects on childhood, adolescence and adulthood. SOURCES OF DATA An extensive review of the related literature was performed using MEDLINE, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and the Best Evidence database. SUMMARY OF THE FINDINGS There is a growing body of evidence that early nutritional practices may affect short-term growth and development outcome. In addition, these practices may play a role in determining adult health and disease. There is still much to be learned about safe and efficacious nutrient administration in preterm infants; about techniques to assess the effect of different nutritional strategies; and about the long-term effects of these regimens on development outcome, growth and disease. CONCLUSION Despite recent progress in neonatal nutrition, there is a lack of basic and clinical research to better define the nutritional requirements of preterm infants and the best way to meet these requirements, avoiding long-term undesirable consequences.