Grand Boulevard, St. Louis, Mo. 63104. M AGNESIUM IS the second most abundant intracellular cation. This element is essential for the production and transfer of energy, for protein synthesis, for contractility in muscle and excitability in nerve, and as an essential cofactor in numerous enzyme systems related to other functions. ~.2 Of 75 neonates with convulsions caused by mineral imbalance, Cockburn et al. found 53 per cent to be hypomagnesemic.~ Since convulsions are only one of many symptoms' of magnesium deficiency in the young child, magnesium deficiency must often go undiagnosed. Magnesium Reserves in the Developing Fetus and in the NewbornThe nutritional requirements of the human fetus for magnesium increase as gestation progresses. At term, an infant weighs 20 times as much as a 20-week-old fetus, yet has 32 times as much magnesium.5 Therefore, one would expect that any infant born prematurely would have poor magnesium reserves, regardless of the magnesium status of the mother.In animal studies, magnesium deficiency during pregnancy affects the offspring more than it does the mother. Wang et al. 6 showed that rats fed a low magnesium diet during pregnancy had prolonged labor, a high incidence of stillbirths, and over 90 per cent mortality of live offspring during the first week postpartum. In addition, the body weights and magnesium content of serum and carcass of the offspring were significantly reduced. Also, the milk samples from the deficient dams on day 21 of lactation were low in magnesium. In another study of magnesium deprivation in rats, Dancis et c~l.' 7 found some fetal parasitism, but in the inevitable competition between mother and offspring, magnesium was retained by the mother at the expense of the fetus. At term, the mothers looked healthy, despite some magnesium depletion, but the surviving fetuses were small, pale, weak, and at times edematous.Blizzard' postulated that the stunting found in the growth of magnesium-deficient embryos of Rana pipiens was related to the requirement for adequate magnesium for ribosome synthesis. Although magnesiumdeficient embryos continued to synthesize ribosomal RNA, ribosomes were not made or maintained. Tsang and C~h's~ report of decreased serum magnesium levels in infants of low birth weight is of particular pertinence in this regard.
Pertinence to Feeding of the NeonateIt is been established that protein, calcium, and phosphorus all increase the metabolic requirement for magnesium.1° Therefore, some of the practices of current infant feeding merit review. Cow's milk, the basis for most of the artificial formulas fed to infants, 1 1 has higher protein and calcium concentrations than human breast milk, and a phosphorus to magnesium ratio that is about six times greater. 12 Infants fed cow's milk have at The University of Auckland Library on March 29, 2015 cpj.sagepub.com Downloaded from 264 greater gains in weight and length than breast-fed infants. 11 I Several reasons may obtain for the present trend towards larger infants. Reports from both the Un...