Abstract
Complementary feeding (CF), which should begin after exclusive breastfeeding for six months, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), or after four months and before six months according to the European Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology Hepatology and Nutrition (ESPGHAN), is a period when the infant implicitly learns what, when, how, and how much to eat. At the onset of CF, the brain and the gut are still developing and maturing, and food experiences contribute to shaping brain connections involved in food hedonics and in the control of food intake. These learning processes are likely to have a long-term impact. Children’s consumption of fruit and vegetables (FV) is below recommendations in many countries. Thus, it is crucial to establish preferences for FV early, when infants are learning to eat. The development of food preferences mainly starts when infants discover their first solid foods. This narrative review summarizes the factors that influence FV acceptance at the start of the CF period: previous milk feeding experience; timing of onset of CF; repeated exposures to the food; variety of foods offered as of the start of the CF period; quality and sensory properties of the complementary foods; quality of the meal time context; and parental responsive feeding.
Highlights
Complementary feeding (CF), which should begin after exclusive breastfeeding for six months, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) [1], or after four and before six months according to the European Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology Hepatology and Nutrition (ESPGHAN) [2], is a period when the infant learns implicitly what, when and how to eat and how much of a given food to eat
More intervention trials in this area should help to understand whether providing information about responsive parenting may have an effect on feeding practices, on children’s preference for healthy foods, and on children’s health status in a variety of cultural contexts. This narrative review aimed to describe how the acceptance of fruit and vegetables at the beginning of complementary feeding could be enhanced through different feeding strategies
It was shown that infants with specific eating temperaments may be resistant to learning to accept new food: for instance, higher fussiness in infants and toddlers predicted a lower increase in vegetable intake in a learning trial [88]
Summary
Complementary feeding (CF), which should begin after exclusive breastfeeding for six months, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) [1], or after four and before six months according to the European Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology Hepatology and Nutrition (ESPGHAN) [2], is a period when the infant learns implicitly what, when and how to eat and how much of a given food to eat. At the onset of CF, the brain and the gut are still developing and maturing, and food experiences contribute to shaping brain connections involved in food hedonics and in the control of food intake. These learning processes are likely to have a long-term impact on eating behavior [3,4,5,6]. In France, the National Program on Nutrition and Health recommends consuming five 80-gram portions of fruit and vegetables per day [11], but the consumption observed in three- to 10-year-old children in 2007 only reached 74 g for fruit and 67 g for vegetables [12]; FV consumption below recommendations was. We will summarize the factors that influence FV acceptance at the start of the CF period: previous milk feeding experience; timing of onset of CF; repeated exposures to the food; variety of foods offered as of the start of the CF period; quality and sensory properties of the complementary foods; quality of the meal time context; and parental responsive feeding
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