Purpose

Current recommendations for refeeding in anorexia nervosa (AN) are conservative, beginning around 1,200 calories to avoid refeeding syndrome. We previously showed poor weight gain and long hospital stay using this approach and hypothesized that a higher calorie approach would improve outcomes.

Methods

Adolescents hospitalized for malnutrition due to AN were included in this quasi-experimental study comparing lower and higher calories during refeeding. Participants enrolled between 2002 and 2012; higher calories were prescribed starting around 2008. Daily prospective measures included weight, heart rate, temperature, hydration markers and serum phosphorus. Participants received formula only to replace refused food. Percent Median Body Mass Index (%MBMI) was calculated using 50th percentile body mass index for age and sex. Unpaired t-tests compared two groups split at 1,200 calories.

Results

Fifty-six adolescents with mean (±SEM) age 16.2 (±.3) years and admit %MBMI 79.2% (±1.5%) were hospitalized for 14.9 (±.9) days. The only significant difference between groups (N = 28 each) at baseline was starting calories (1,764 [±60] vs. 1,093 [±28], p < .001). Participants on higher calories had faster weight gain (.46 [±.04] vs. .26 [±.03] %MBMI/day, p < .001), greater daily calorie advances (122 [±8] vs. 98 [±6], p = .024), shorter hospital stay (11.9 [±1.0] vs. 17.6 [±1.2] days, p < .001), and a greater tendency to receive phosphate supplementation (12 vs. 8 participants, p = .273).

Conclusions

Higher calorie diets produced faster weight gain in hospitalized adolescents with AN as compared with the currently recommended lower calorie diets. No cases of the refeeding syndrome were seen using phosphate supplementation. These findings lend further support to the move toward more aggressive refeeding in AN.