Calories Count

35 patients (19 underweight, 16 normal-weight) with congenital heart disease (CHD), aged 1 month to 2 years. Exclusion criteria: noncardiac factors affecting growth (low birth weight, Down syndrome, gastrointestinal deficit, severe central nervous system abnormality).

Nutritional counseling in the presence of a parent every 2 months for 6 months, maximizing caloric and protein intakes using high-calorie formulas (administered to 17 underweight patients).

Normal-weight patients with CHD (for baseline comparison) and pre-intervention baseline (for longitudinal comparison).

Dietary intake (percentage of recommended daily allowance of calories) and percentage of ideal body weight for length.surrogate