MFGM: The Latest Breakthrough in Pediatric Nutrition

The first five years of life defines a child’s formative years. At this period, every triumph—from saying his first word and making his first step, to dancing, singing, or telling a story—becomes a learning milestone worth celebrating because it shows how much potential the child can achieve in the future.

That is why most parents exert great efforts to provide proper nutrition that can help with their child’s physical and mental growth, especially during the early stages of life when 90% of brain development happens. And the latest breakthrough in pediatric nutrition may just offer parents the help they need.

The newest buzzword among child care experts is MFGM or milk fat globule membrane. MFGM is a tri-layer complex rich in bioactive components that has been proven in studies to support in the cognitive development of infants. Moreover, a study reveals that MFGM contributes in the behavioral or EQ development of children.

For the first time, MFGM has been successfully extracted and reintroduced into supplemental milk formula for infants and children, making it closely similar with the gold standard in pediatric nutrition.

Tore Jesper Andersen, one of the leading experts on MFGM, said that the naturally-occurring milk component will forever change the landscape of pediatric nutrition. “This is not just about replicating one of the crucial milk components. It is about successfully extracting MFGM and introducing it to milk formula to maximize its efficacy for the development of our children,” said Andersen.

A study published by Dr. Niklas Timby of Umea University in Sweden, further corroborated the positive effects of MFGM on cognitive development among infants. The study showed that infants fed with MFGM-enriched milk had significantly higher cognitive scores compared to infants who were fed a formula without MFGM. Also, this cognitive score was not different from result report for breastfed infants.

Another study of Timby on the effects of MFGM also showed that the compound is likewise beneficial to strengthening children’s immune system. It was found that milk formula added with MFGM fraction have reduced incidence of acute otitis media and episodes of bloody diarrhea in infants. A different study conducted by Genevieve Veereman-Wauters established that children who consumed formula enriched with MFGM demonstrated significantly improved parent-reported scores for behavioral regulation compared to children receiving control formula without MFGM enrichment.

The benefits that MFGM provide truly ushers in a new era in pediatric healthcare and nutrition, giving parents and pediatricians even more ways of helping prepare and protect children for tomorrow’s challenges. Today, MFGM has brought pediatric nutrition closest to the gold standard of nutrition.