Text Box: FORMULA INTAKE OF BOTTLE-FED INFANTS Baranowski WJ1, Wąsowska-Królikowska K2 1 Laboratory of Trace Elements Analysis, Lodz, Poland 2 Department of Paediatric Gastroenterology and Allergology, Medical University of Lodz, Poland Objective: The basic nourishment of new-borns and infants is milk. It is believed that mother's milk fulfils child's physiological needs. In case mother does not want or cannot breast-feed her child, formula is introduced into infant nourishment. The contents of nourishing components in formulae differ from their contents in mother's milk. Therefore it is necessary to select carefully the composition of formulae given to bottle-fed infants. It can be realised when the daily volume of the infant’s meal is known. The aim of this paper is to assess daily intake of formula by bottle-fed infants. Methods: The study was carried out for 75 infants in the first five months of their life that were exclusively fed with a formula. The daily intake of formula was calculated from feeding records kept by the infants’ parents. All the infants in the study were healthy. The infants were divided into five groups according to their month of life. There were 7 infants in a one-month-old group and 23, 24, 11 and 10 in other groups respectively. Results: The mean formula intake for infants in their 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th month was 545 ± 127; 744 ± 105; 882 ± 67; 962 ± 104 and 951 ± 145 ml a day, respectively. The daily mean formula intake per kilogram of body weight was 147 ± 20; 172 ± 23; 150 ± 13; 172 ± 28 and 140 ± 26 ml respectively. Conclusion: The daily formula intake in the fifth month of infants’ life is almost twice as in the first one. The difference fades when the formula intake is performed as the daily meal volume per kilogram of body weight. The results of the present study do not vary significantly from those appearing in the literature. The slight decrease of formula intake in 3rd and 5th month of infants’ life is point to explain. 2428