Factors associated with early introduction of complementary feeding and consumption of non-recommended foods among Dutch infants: the BeeBOFT study

Abstract

Background Timing and types of complementary feeding in infancy affect nutritional status and health later in life. The present study aimed to investigate the factors associated with early introduction of complementary feeding (i.e., before age 4 months), and factors associated with infants consumption of non-recommended foods, including sweet beverages and snack foods. Methods This study used cross-sectional data from the BeeBOFT study ( n = 2157). Data on complementary feeding practices and potential determinants were obtained by questionnaire at infant’s age of 6 months. Logistic regression models were used to investigate factors associated with early introduction of complementary feeding and infants’ consumption of non-recommended foods. Results 21.4% of infants had received complementary feeding before 4 months of age. At the age of 6 months, 20.2% of all infants were consuming sweet beverages daily and 16.5% were consuming snack foods daily. Younger maternal age, lower maternal educational level, absence or shorter duration of breastfeeding, parental conviction that “my child always wants to eat when he/she sees someone eating” and not attending day-care were independently associated with both early introduction of complementary feeding and the consumption of non-recommended foods. Higher maternal pre-pregnancy BMI and infant postnatal weight gain were associated only with early introduction of complementary feeding. Conclusions We identified several demographical, biological, behavioral, psychosocial, and social factors associated with inappropriate complementary feeding practices. These findings are relevant for designing intervention programs aimed at educating parents. Trial registration The trail is registered at Netherlands Trial Register, trail registration number: NTR1831 . Retrospectively registered on May 29, 2009. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12889-019-6722-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Sources and Determinants of Discretionary Food Intake in a Cohort of Australian Children Aged 12–14 Months

“…Findings of this study are consistent with other studies which have investigated the determinants of dietary behaviors of infants and toddlers and have found that children of younger mothers had less healthy diets than those of older mothers [41,43,[51][52][53][54][55][56]. We did not however, find an independent association with discretionary food intake and maternal education reported in other studies [41,51,[53][54][55][56].…”

“…The early and escalating consumption of energy dense-nutrient poor foods in early childhood is not unique to Australian children. In the Dutch BeeBOFT study 20.2% of infants were consuming sweet beverages daily and 16.5% were consuming snack food daily at 6 months of age [43]. The results of the US 2016 Feeding Infants and Toddler Study (FITS) [44] indicate that 34% of infants aged 6 to 11.9 months had consumed sweets such as cakes, biscuits, muffins, frozen desserts or sugar sweetened beverages, with this proportion rising to 73% of children aged 12 to 17.9 months.…”

Breastfeeding practices within the first six months of age in mid-western and eastern regions of Nepal: a health facility-based cross-sectional study

“…The WHO recommends exclusive breastfeeding up to 6 months of age, with continued breastfeeding along with appropriate complementary feeds up to 2 years of age or beyond [6]. The complementary feeding should be initiated in a child, no later than 26 weeks and not before 17 weeks of age [7]. The benefits of exclusive breastfeeding and proper weaning in the growth, development, and prevention of illness in young children are undisputable.…”

Supplemental Feeding as Preventive Measure for Overweight and Obesity in Children With Regard to the Concept of First 1000 Days

“…В настоящее время изучают отсроченные риски употребления при прикорме младенцев продуктов, не предназначенных для них, в т. ч. сладких напитков и снеков [27]. Результаты систематических обзоров показывают, что употребление подслащенных напитков при введении прикорма повышает риск развития ожирения.…”

“…Исследователи подчеркивают связь введения прикорма в возрасте до 4 мес с последующим развитием ожирения у детей, находящихся на искусственном вскармливании, но при этом отмечают необходимость дифференцированной оценки продуктов прикорма [34]. В частности, указывают на возможную негативную роль содержащихся в промышленных прикормах насыщенных жиров, избытка сахаров и натрия [35]; причем доля младенцев, получающих эти продукты в возрасте до 4 мес в некоторых регионах, превышает 20% [27]. Метаанализ результатов 81 исследова-ния показал, что у здоровых доношенных детей риск формирования избыточной массы тела или преобладания жировой массы в составе тела не различался в когортах, получивших прикорм в возрасте 4-5 или в 6 мес жизни, хотя в отдельных работах связь введения прикорма в возрасте до 4 мес с более высокой частотой ожирения была подтверждена [28].…”