Tips to ensure your baby's diet gives them best possible start

IRELAND has one of the fastest growing rates of obesity. The National Taskforce on Obesity says 40% of Irish adults are overweight and 18% of those are obese. Our children are following suit. With Nourish Children Week (Apr 15 to 19) just behind us, experts say children should be fed properly from the moment they eat solids.

Consultant dietician Annemarie Bennett has worked with the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) on the development of infant feeding guidelines. She says many children’s diets are unsuitable for their growing bodies.

“Together with the nutrient stores built up in the baby during pregnancy, breast milk meets the baby’s dietary needs for the first six months of life, so, according to INDI and the FSAI, the latest guidelines recommend that infants start spoon- feeding close to six-months old,” she says.

However Irish research shows that 75% of infants are spoon-fed before four months of age.

“That this is associated with increased risk of allergies, coeliac disease, type I diabetes and respiratory illness. But, alongside, this worrying trend, the types of foods being provided tend to be high in fat, sugar and salt, and lower on fruit and vegetables,” says Bennett.

“In the short-term, such eating patterns are of concern, as they can result in excessive weight gain and higher blood pressure. But longer-term, the excessive weight gain in infancy can increase the risk of obesity in later life.”

Bennett says we are predisposed to certain tastes, but our palates can be trained to like healthy food. “We are all born with a preference for sweet and salty tastes,” she says. “However, such preferences can be adjusted and this is why parents play such a crucial role. Offering spoon-feeds without added fat, sugar and salt can help set an infant’s preference for sweet and salty tastes at lower levels later in life. This, in turn, can promote healthier food patterns in the longer term.

“But the regular consumption of sweet and salty foods can increase the risk of obesity, which is extremely serious, due to its associations with type II diabetes, heart disease and cancer.”

Commercial infant food can tempt parents to subsidise home-cooked meals with shop-bought alternatives, as they are often marketed as a healthy option. The FSAI investigated 448 commercial infant foods produced by six different manufacturers. Their study revealed that 15% of commercial infant foods did not meet best infant-feeding practice, since they were high in fat, sugar or salt.

Furthermore, in a survey of 195 mothers, 68% used commercial infant foods, and 32% used them to get ideas for homemade meals.

Guidelines recommend that breast-milk and water are the only fluids an infant consumes up to 12 months-of-age. However, the marketing of baby juices from four months can create difficulty, in terms of parents complying with this recommendation.

Also, the widespread sale of desserts for infants creates the illusion that they are normal, and can make it difficult to achieve a diet of plain food without added, fat, sugar or salt.

Bennett says parents are getting mixed messages from the commercial food lobby, because there is no breach of legislation, which only requires food to be safe to eat.

“Provided the commercial infant foods are in line with legislation, they have no further obligation to the consumer, as the most important thing is that they are safe for consumption,” she says.

“Whether they are healthy or not is another matter entirely. Parental education on best practice in infant feeding is needed to help promote healthier food choices on behalf of infants.

Nutrition education often has minor and short-lived effects.

“Measures at the family level should be matched by measures in the larger environment — such as changes in industry and legislation — to help maintain the positive food choices that parents make on behalf of their children.”

Ruth Charles, consultant dietician with INDI, also believes in the importance of developing healthy early-eating-patterns.

“By preparing homemade weaning foods, parents know exactly what their infant is eating and they will become familiar with the taste of homemade foods from an early age,” she says. “Commercial baby foods can be useful when travelling or eating away from home, but parents should be advised to choose savoury meals and avoid sweetened desserts, processed meats, sauces and gravies.

“Growth patterns and body weight during the first 12 months can have far-reaching and persistent consequences throughout adulthood, and can influence the later development of chronic disease. So, it is important to lay the foundations for food choice and good health from infancy. Parents need guidance from healthcare professionals to offer their infant a diet rich in texture and flavours during the first year of life”.

* Further weaning information can be found at www.indi.ie, www.fsai.ie and www.nutrikids.ie