Nutrition in the early years - laying the foundations for healthy eating

Parental engagement with complementary feeding information in the United Kingdom: A qualitative evidence synthesis

Complementary feeding is the process of introducing solid foods to milk-fed infants (also known as weaning). Current UK guidance states that complementary feeding should occur around 6 months but not before 4 months. This systematic review explores how parents in the UK, with an infant under 24 months of age, engage with sources of information and advice about complementary feeding. Engaging with sources of information can influence parents' feeding choices and so a better understanding of parents' information behaviours can improve service provisions. Six databases were searched, identifying 15 relevant qualitative studies with the predefined criteria. Data from each study were coded line by line allowing for a synthesis of higher analytical themes. Using thematic synthesis, four main themes were observed: (1) trust and rapport-parents valued information from a trusted source (2), accessibility-information needs were often time sensitive, and parents showed varying levels of understanding, (3) adapting feeding plans-often influenced by practicalities (4), being a good parent-feeding plans were changed to comply with societal ideas of 'good parenting'. The review concluded that parents receive information and advice about complementary feeding from multiple sources and are highly motivated to seek further information. The scope of this novel review explored the parental experience of finding, receiving and engaging with information sources and how this may or may not have influenced their feeding behaviours. The review has provided a new perspective to add to the growing body of literature that focuses on the experience of feeding an infant.

Associations between feeding practices in infancy and fruit and vegetable consumption in childhood

A diet rich in fruits and vegetables may reduce the risk of chronic diseases. However, in many countries, the majority of children do not eat the recommended quantities of fruits and vegetables. The present study aimed to understand associations between feeding practices in infancy (breast-feeding and first complementary food) and fruit and vegetable consumption in childhood (frequency and variety). Data were from the national, observational, cross-sectional Mothers and their Children’s Health study conducted in 2016/2017, a sub-study of the national Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health. Mothers completed a written survey on feeding practices in infancy (breast-feeding duration, use of formula, first complementary food) and children’s fruit and vegetable frequency (number of times eaten) and variety (number of different types eaten) in the past 24 h, using the Children’s Dietary Questionnaire. Children (n 4981, mean 7·36 (sd 2·90) years) ate vegetables 2·10 (sd 1·11) times and fruits 2·35 (sd 1·14) times and ate 3·21 (sd 1·35) different vegetables and 2·40 (sd 1·18) different fruits, on average. Compared with breast-feeding for <6 months, breast-feeding for ≥6 months was associated with higher vegetable variety. Compared with cereal as the first complementary food, fruits or vegetables were associated with higher vegetable frequency and variety, and higher fruit frequency. Overall, infancy is a window of opportunity for dietary intervention. Guidance to parents should encourage the use of fruits and vegetables at the beginning of complementary feeding.