[The early feeding of premature and low birth weight infants with breast milk. II. Growth and development within the first year of life (author's transl)].

Growth and development of 172 infants with low birth weight (82 AFD, 90 SFD) were controlled within the first year of life. Head growth of AFD infants kept within normal limits during the whole time. The head circumference of the SFD infants was smaller within the first two months, from the third month onwards there was no signficant difference between AFD and SFD infants. The difference in body weight between AFD and SFD was significant up to the fifth month. Psychomotor development was within normal limits in 165 of the 172 infants, seven children developed signs of cerebral palsy. The incidence of spastic diplegia in infants with a birth weight below 1500 gm was 2.4%. The favourable outcome seems to be at least partially due to the early high caloric feeding.