Abstract
The infant diet has short- and long-term health consequences. Updated data regarding the dietary intake of Finnish infants are lacking. The objectives of this study were to describe infant food and nutrient intake and to identify food sources of the nutrients. Altogether, 739 healthy infants were studied. Dietary intake and breastfeeding frequency were assessed with a three-day food record at 1 year of age. Dietary intake was calculated separately for non-breastfed and breastfed infants. One-third (36%) of the infants were partially breastfed and 95% consumed mass-produced baby foods. The infants’ diet consisted mainly of infant formula, dairy milk, porridges, fruit and berry foods, and meat dishes. The mean vegetable, fruit and berry consumption was 199 g/day. Most nutrient intakes were adequate except for fat, linoleic acid, vitamin D and iron from food. Mean sucrose intake, as a percentage of total energy intake (E%), was 5–6 E%. High protein intake (>20 E%) was observed in 19% of non-breastfed infants. Overall, the infants’ diet was favorable since vegetable and fruit consumption was reasonably high and nutrient intake was mostly adequate. However, the fat intake was lower, and protein intake higher than recommended. Increasing the consumption of vegetable oils and reducing the intake of red meat and dairy milk may further improve the diet of 1-year-olds.
Highlights
Poor diet is a major contributing factor for many chronic diseases
74% of the infants drank as such dairy milk, of which 4% was whole milk, and the rest was low-fat or skimmed milk
The aim of the current study was to describe food and nutrient intake in 1-year-old infants to better understand the current trends in infant feeding and identify possible concerns
Summary
Poor diet is a major contributing factor for many chronic diseases. The origin of many chronic diseases may be traced back to childhood diet [1,2,3]. Suboptimal diet in early life can lead to several unfavorable metabolic conditions through epigenetic programming, and have consequences on health outcomes later in life [4,5]. Early life dietary habits associate with cardiometabolic risk factors in childhood [6,7], and later in adulthood [3]. Dietary habits adopted in childhood often persist into later life [8,9]. Healthy dietary habits and adequate nutrient intake are vital for the optimal growth and development of children
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