Tomi study
The ToMI study focuses on the growth, development and metabolism of young children. Childhood obesity has increased significantly in recent years. If you are overweight at kindergarten age, 60% of you will also be overweight as an adult. Obesity is a major cause of high blood pressure, diabetes and many orthopaedic complaints in adulthood. Early childhood nutrition has a significant influence on this development, not only by shaping taste (what do we like to eat later?), but also through its ingredients.
A few years ago, we were able to show that a lower protein content in infant formula during the first year of life contributes to children becoming significantly less overweight at school age. It is unclear whether this also applies to infancy. We therefore want to use the ToMI study to investigate whether the same effect can be achieved with less milk protein in the second year of life. To this end, the study children are given milk with a normal or reduced protein content in the second year of life in order to investigate the influence of milk protein on growth up to the age of 6.
The study is being conducted by the working group for metabolism and nutritional medicine at the Dr. von Hauner Children's Hospital under the direction of Prof. Dr. med. Berthold Koletzko.
What is done?
If you take part in a study, your child will receive either normal or reduced protein infant milk instead of cow's milk or bottle milk for the entire second year of life. The study milk should be used as normal milk throughout the second year of life. We have developed recipe suggestions for the study children as support. As a participant, you will receive the study milk free of charge.
During the study, five visits (at 12, 18, 24, 48 and 72 months) are planned at the Dr. von Hauner Children's Hospital. At each of these visits, height, weight and body fat percentage will be measured and urine will be collected. At the ages of 12, 24 and 72 months we would like to take a blood sample, and from the age of 24 months we would also like to measure activity. Further data is also collected using questionnaires.
Composition and origin of our study milk
Our study milk - both the conventional and the protein-reduced children's milk - is optimally adapted to the nutritional requirements of small children and has been produced in accordance with European guidelines and industrial standards. When consuming our study milk, your child will not suffer any disadvantages compared to the consumption of commercially available infant milk. The new infant milk contains sufficient protein and is comparable to breast milk in terms of protein content. The protein content of conventional infant milk, on the other hand, is comparable to the protein content of cow's milk. The study has been reviewed by the hospital's ethics committee.
Always up to date
Recruitment of study participants was successfully completed in October 2019. The subsequent intervention phase, i.e. the study milk administration phase, ended in October 2020. In September 2024, the last dates of study visit 5 were also carried out at the age of 72 months. The following chart provides an overview of the study visits carried out.
newsletter
We have also prepared a newsletter for you that provides you with further information on the status of the ToMI study. In addition, our study team has prepared scientific articles and recommendations for you on the topics of children's health and nutrition. You are welcome to click on the newsletters and find out more.
Questions for the ToMI study team
If you have any further questions or concerns about the ToMI study, please feel free to contact our study team using the contact details below, Monday to Friday between 8 am and 4 pm. We look forward to hearing from you.
