Adding Olive Oil to Milk to Weight Gain in Critical Preterm Babies

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Adding Olive Oil to Milk to Weight Gain in Critical Preterm Babies
EC EMERGENCY MEDICINE AND CRITICAL CARE
Editor’s Column - 2019
Citation: Aqeel Abbas Noaman. “Adding Olive Oil to Milk to Weight Gain in Critical Preterm Babies”. EC Emergency Medicine and
Critical Care ECO.01 (2019): 24-25.
COLUMN ARTICLE
Aqeel Abbas Noaman
Middle Technical University (MTU),
Iraq
Nearly 1,500,000 premature babies (< 2500 gm) are born
annually, most of them from South Asia and Africa, where
annual statistical data showed that more than 1,000,000 of
them die as result to the complications of prematurity [1].
When the mother gives birth prematurely, the supply of nu-
trients intended for the fetus that supports and maintains
its growth during intrauterine life is suddenly stopped [2].
Accordingly, it is necessary to work to restore the neces-
sary nutrients as quickly as possible after birth to achieve a
growth pattern that is at least comparable to the growth of
the fetus within the mother’s uterine [2]. Since these babies
have little nutritional needs different from full-time babies,
it is necessary to improve nutritional status and calories per
kilogram of weight [3]. And since a mother must breastfeed
his/her baby for at least two years [4], it does not provide all

supplements are added to breast milk either in the form of
powder or liquid that may be strongly recommended [3]. In
1943, Benjaminetal., et al. compared a group of premature
babies fed a breast milk with another group fed a skimmed
milk plus an appropriate amount of olive oil, and the results
of the study showed that breast milk even if supplied with
vitamin D is not the best food for building and forming of
the skeleton in preterm babies [5]. Since proper nutrition
is essential in promoting the growth and development of
the child, including preterm infants [6], the addition of ol-
ive oil to the milk of those born prematurely it may help
to gain more weight [3]. This may be because olive oil is
not only a good source of essential energy made up of fat-
ty acids, but it works to provide the body with vitamin A,
D, E, K, e and its ability to dissolve them [7]. Growth stud-
ies in preterm infants have expressed concern about the
quality and quantity of breast milk alone [8]. Investigating
        
the milk of premature babies to gain weight is very scarce
or almost non-existent, although Elaheh., et al, in Iran has
proven that adding olive oil to the premature milk contrib-
utes to increasing their weight and reduces the duration of
the hospital stay [3]. Moreover, the unsaturated fatty acids
found in vegetable oils such as coconut oil and olive oil like

the neurological development of infants [8]. It is preferable
that the added amount of olive oil be 0.5 ml per 30 ml of
milk, whether breast milk or Pre Nan milk, provided that
all hygiene requirements is applied in the process of pre-
paring the mixture [3]. The daily intake is increased sev-
eral days after birth to reach the ideal volume of 200 ml/
kg of breast milk and 150 ml/ kg of Pre Nan milk [3]. Many
physicians do not recommend starting enteral nutrition
until maturation of gastrointestinal motor function [9]. If
the premature baby is unable to take nutrients orally, it
will be compensated by Parenteral feeding, through which
the foods made up of amino acids, fatty acids, vitamins,

Adding Olive Oil to Milk to Weight Gain in Critical Preterm Babies
Citation: Aqeel Abbas Noaman. “Adding Olive Oil to Milk to Weight Gain in Critical Preterm Babies”. EC Emergency Medicine and
Critical Care ECO.01 (2019): 24-25.
25
BIBLIOGRAPHY
©All rights reserved by Aqeel Abbas Noaman.
and others are given to preserve the premature’s life [9]. It
should be noted that mothers should be advised to consume
an appropriate amount of olive oil during pregnancy as this
increases the chances of giving birth to a baby with a better
weight and length even if the birth is premature [10]. Final-
ly, the researcher advises careful monitoring of the growth
of preterm infants throughout their stay in the hospital,
and making monitoring of their growth part of routine fol-
low-up with the necessity to avoid over or under-nutrition

for the growth of preterm infants and giving these nutrients
by trained health professionals to get satisfactory results.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I am very grateful to my Colleagues (Ahmed Yousef, Sar-
mad Qassim, Mohammed Khudhair, Idriss Saleh and, Saif
Ali) for encouraging me to complete the editor’s column
and to meet the request of the Journal of Emergency Medi-
cine and Critical Care on alternative medicine topics.
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