[The evaluation of gastrointestinal tolerance for a new infant feeding formula (Similac) in healthy infants].

There is a pediatric consensus that maternal milk is the best food for the new born, but when this is impossible, one turns to artificial nutrition. The main objective of infant formulae is to achieve a gastrointestinal tolerance that is similar to maternal milk. With this in mind, we carried out an observational, prospective, and multicentric study with the objective of evaluating the gastrointestinal tolerance of Similac, taking maternal milk and other formulae on the market as reference. The study included 2 pediatric visits, a diary in which the parents recorded the gastrointestinal parameters, and a final questionnaire to evaluate the degree of satisfaction. Information was obtained from 6,617 evaluable cases, 82.2% fed with Similac (S), 8.8% with maternal milk (MM) and 9% with other formulae (OF). The analysis of the data showed that the percentage of children with signs of gastrointestinal intolerance, was reduced to more than half when using S compared to OF (5.6% S, 5% LM, and 14.1% OF). The color and consistency of the feces was significantly associated with the formula group, and in both cases S showed a greater similarity to the pattern obtained with MM compared to the OF group. 18.6% of the children with OF presented hard feces, and this percentage was reduced to at least half with S (6.2%). The S group showed a greater percentage of lack of regurgitations and no aerophagia and the lowest percentage for three or more regurgitations and severe aerophagia. Those questioned considered that S was easier to reconstitute up, is liked better, and is better tolerated than the OF used. Similac achieved a greater similarity in gastrointestinal tolerance to that of maternal milk than other formulae did.