Nutrition/Obesity
Timing of introduction to fruits and vegetables during infancy and intake in childhood Priscilla Clayton* Priscilla Clayton Diane L. Putnick Ian R. Trees Jordan N. Tyris Tzu-Chun Lin Edwina H. Yeung
Most children in the US do not meet daily recommendations for fruits and vegetables. Early infant feeding practices may influence dietary preferences in childhood. However, little is known about how timing of introduction to fruits and vegetables may impact their intake in childhood.
Parents from the Upstate KIDS cohort reported whether they introduced solids or liquids (e.g., vegetables, fruits, meats, juice, dairy, etc.) other than breastmilk or formula to their infants at 4, 8, and 12 months of age. All singletons and one randomly selected multiple from each family with information on feeding practices and diet at 30-36 months (n=2770) and 7-9 years of age (n=1429) were included. We used Poisson regression to model the associations between introduction of fruits and vegetables and intake in childhood. Models were adjusted for mother’s age, race/ethnicity, education, insurance status, pre-pregnancy BMI, child’s gestational age, parity, WIC participation, frequency of fast-food intake, and breastfeeding duration.
About 34% of infants were introduced to fruits and vegetables by 4 months, 61% around 8 months, and 5% around 12 months. Mothers introducing by 4 months had lower educational attainment, higher pre-pregnancy BMI, and a higher WIC participation relative to mothers introducing later (p <.0001). Compared to those introducing fruits and vegetables by 4 months of age, introduction around 12 months of age was associated with 10% (adjusted RR: 0.90; 0.81, 1.00) lower daily subsequent fruit and vegetable intake at 30-36 months but not with introduction around 8 months (aRR: 0.96; 0.92, 1.00). Similar but attenuated associations around 12 months (aRR: 0.90; 0.76, 1.06) and 8 months (aRR: 0.97; 0.90, 1.04) relative to 4 months for fruits and vegetable intake at 7-9 years were observed.
Delaying an infant’s introduction to fruits and vegetables to 12 months was associated with lower intake in childhood, although other complementary foods require further investigation.