Patterns and predictors of food texture introduction in French children aged 4–36 months

Abstract

The aims of this study were to describe which and when food textures are offered to children between 4 and 36 months in France and to identify the associated factors. An online cross-sectional survey was designed, including questions about 188 food texture combinations representing three texture levels: purées (T1), soft small pieces (T2) and hard/large pieces and double textures (T3). Mothers indicated which combinations they already offered to their child. A food texture exposure score (TextExp) was calculated for all of the texture levels combined and for each texture level separately. Associations between TextExp and maternal and child characteristics and feeding practices were explored by multiple linear regressions, per age class. Answers from 2999 mothers living in France, mostly educated and primiparous, were analysed. Over the first year, children were mainly exposed to purées. Soft and small pieces were slowly introduced between 6 and 22 months, whereas hard/large pieces were mainly introduced from 13 months onwards. TextExp was positively associated with children's number of teeth and ability to eat alone with their finger or a fork. For almost all age classes, TextExp was higher in children introduced to complementary feeding earlier, lower for children who were offered only commercial baby foods and higher for those who were offered only home-made/non-specific foods during the second year. Our study shows that until 12 months of age the majority of French children were exposed to pieces to a small extent. It provides new insights to further understand the development of texture acceptance during a key period for the development of eating habits.

Parent‐reported ease of eating foods of different textures in young children with Down syndrome

“…The results from the present study support previously published work in the area. In the present study, as age increased, the textures of lumpy, mushy, and gooey/soggy/wet were all less likely to be reported as “easy.” These textures are more associated with pureed and baby foods, which as the child ages, generally decrease in consumption (Demonteil et al, ). Thus, the absence of these terms in the responses of the families of older children may have been due to the parent simply not considering these textures and including them in the open‐ended response.…”

“…As the children got older, they became more accepting of the chopped texture (Blossfeld et al, 2007). In typically developing children, as the age of the child increases, a greater number of textures are introduced to the child (Demonteil et al, 2018). This recent study reported that over the first year, children were mainly exposed to purees, and between 6 and 22 months, soft and small pieces were introduced into the diet (Demonteil et al, 2018).…”

“…These variables included age and weight-forage percentiles (Carruth, Ziegler, Gordon, & Barr, 2004), birth order and mother's education (van der Horst et al, 2016). In a recent study of food texture, information regarding parental characteristics, child characteristics, eating environment, food texture introduction, food preparation were also included (Demonteil et al, 2018).…”

“…For aversions to specific food textures, early dietary intervention is important as experience with different textures early in life might facilitate infants' acceptance of more complex textures at a later stage (Blossfeld, Collins, Kiely, & Delahunty, 2007;Demonteil et al, 2018;Demonteil et al, 2019;Johnson, 2016). As such, food texture acceptance is also known to evolve with age; certain textures that are not accepted at one age may be accepted at a different age.…”

Masticatory behavior for different solid foods in preschool children according to their oral state

“…The maturation of the masticatory function and related anatomical and physiological development of the orofacial sphere may be influenced by feeding practices and especially through consumption of diverse food textures throughout infancy and early childhood. Research papers report special interests in the optimal time frame to progressively introduce lumpy food and then solid food during the first 36 months of life, while national recommendations just advocate that texture should evolve according to the child's chewing skills (Demonteil et al, ). However, the time actually required to move from the suckling‐swallowing function in newborn, mostly based on reflex processes, to a fully developed chewing‐swallowing function requiring advanced coordination skills, is poorly documented, as well as the influencing factors of this process (Blossfeld, Collins, Kiely, & Delahunty, ; Coulthard, Harris, & Emmett, ; Fewtrell et al, ; Gisel, ; Stolovitz & Gisel, ; World Health Organization, ).…”