Early Feeding: Setting the Stage for Healthy Eating Habits

Abstract

Food habits, an integral part of all cultures, have their beginnings during early life. This chapter reviews the development of the senses of taste and smell, which provide information on the flavor of foods, and discusses how children's innate predispositions interact with early-life feeding experiences to form dietary preferences and habits. Young children show heightened preferences for foods that taste sweet and salty and rejection of that which tastes bitter. These innate responses are salient during development since they likely evolved to encourage children to ingest that which is beneficial, containing needed calories or minerals, and to reject that which is harmful. Early childhood is also characterized by plasticity, partially evidenced by a sensitive period during early life when infants exhibit heightened acceptance of the flavors experienced in amniotic fluid and breast milk. While learning also occurs with flavors found in formulae, it is likely that this sensitive period formed to facilitate acceptance of and attraction to the flavors of foods eaten by the mother. A basic understanding of the development and functioning of the chemical senses during early childhood may assist in forming evidence-based strategies to improve children's diets.

The family child care home environment and children's diet quality

“…Caregivers may use certain feeding practices to engage with children during mealtimes. Most of the literature, which has focused primarily on parents, suggests that more responsive practices and less restriction and pressure are associated with better child diet and weight outcomes (Mennella & Ventura, 2011). Therefore, the finding that more responsive feeding practices (like prompts to eat healthy food, helping children respect their own hunger and satiety cues, and not using food for reward or comfort) were not associated with children’s diet quality in our sample is somewhat surprising.…”

The Association of Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Intake During Infancy With Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Intake at 6 Years of Age

“…20 Because early feeding practices can modify taste preference and may have long-term effects on food preferences, including the preference for sweet-tasting foods and beverages, 19,27 as well as parents who might be consistently feeding similar beverages to their children throughout infancy and childhood, it may be important to establish healthy dietary habits in early life by avoiding the feeding of SSBs during infancy. Including this recommendation as part of parenting skills education programs potentially may influence the reduction of SSB consumption among infants and children, as mothers who fed more SSBs to infants may also be more likely to provide SSBs to their children as they grow up.…”

Snacks, Sweetened Beverages, Added Sugars, and Schools

“…Children, in particular, have a strong liking for more intense sweet. 48 Consumed within recommended calorie amounts, sweetness can offer an effective tool to promote consumption of nutrient-dense foods and beverages. 49 To help move all school food items in line with the 2010 DGAs, these attributes should be considered:…”