Introduction:

The weight gain in the newborn is a prognostic marker for morbidity, mortality and hospital readmissions. The feeding technique is a challenge for the management of these patients.

Objective:

To determine the association between the type of food, volume, caloric intake, type of milk and comorbidities in weight gain in hospitalized infants.

Material and methods:

From July 2015 to July 2016 in the Neonatal Intermediate Care Unit of Hospital Ángeles del Pedregal a cohort study was performed in infants without active disease in growth and development by registering gestational age, birth weight, type of food, type of milk, volume and administered calories per day. The outcome variable was the increased weight of 15 g/day at day 10. Confounders were days of oxygen and incubator.

Statistic analysis:

Measures of dispersion and central tendency. ANOVA repeated samples; linear regression analysis and Mantel-Haenzel test adjusted for confounders.

Results:

Total of 50 patients, 52% were female. The most associated variable with weight gain was mixed feeding with orogastric tube and feeder.

Conclusions:

The technique of mixed feeding with orogastric tube and feeder is the independent variable to weight gain.