Evaluation of nutrition and growth in infants with infantile colic

Objective: The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of sociodemographic and nutrition characteristics of the family and baby on the etiology of infantile colic and compare the growth of the infants with infantile colic with the normal population. In addition, we aimed to evaluate the frequency of different treatment methods used in the treatment of infantile colic. Materials and Methods: The study included 247 babies between 3 weeks and 6 months of age who were referred to Manisa Celal Bayar University Hafsa Sultan Hospital Department of Pediatrics, Neonatology Outpatient Clinic between March 2020 and March 2021. The diagnosis of infantile colic was made by questioning the sociodemographic characteristics, nutritional status, and growth using a questionnaire and evaluating the responses and clinical examination findings of the babies according to the ROMA IV criteria. Infants meeting the criteria were accepted as the "infantile colic" group and those who did not were accepted as the "control" group. The body weight, height, and head circumference of the babies were measured and their percentiles were calculated. Statistical comparison was made between the babies with infantile colic and the control group in terms of parameters investigated. Results: The frequency of infantile colic was 65% in the study. Gender, birth weight, birth height, and head circumference, birth type, mother and father age, number of pregnancies and births, family type, mother and father education level, mother and father's working status were not risked factors for infantile colic. A significant relation was found between infantile colic and the parameters such as mother's smoking, breastfeeding training after birth, and bottle use (p <0.05). However, the time of breastfeeding, use of breastmilk, breastfeeding history of the mother in previous deliveries, feeding with formula, time to start formula, use of vitamins and drugs, and the mother's exclusion of certain foods from the diet was not related to the frequency of infantile colic. In addition, infantile colic did not show a statistically significant effect on the growth of babies. Conclusion: We conclude that creating awareness on quitting smoking and giving postnatal breastfeeding training to the mothers may be effective in reducing the frequency of infantile colic in babies. We think that there is a need for randomized controlled studies including more patients to investigate the efficacy of drugs and behavioral approaches used in infants with infantile colic.