Acid steatocrit during infancy.

The faecal acid steatocrit is an improved steatocrit method for the evaluation of faecal fat. The present study was set up in order to establish reference values during the first year of life. Faecal acid steatocrit values were determined in 58 healthy full term and in 16 healthy prematurely born infants. Very high acid steatocrit results (above 60%) were found in all premature and many formula-fed term infants during the first 6 months of age, thereafter with values below 10%. In 40- to 120-day-old infants acid steatocrit results of human milk-fed infants were significantly lower than those of formula-fed infants (p < 0.01). We conclude that high acid steatocrit results after the age of 6 months are indicative of fat malabsorption, while before this age high values can be due to "physiological steatorrhoea". The acid steatocrit should be useful for the evaluation of milk fat absorption in infants.