Place des laits au cours de la diversification alimentaire des nourrissons et enfants en bas âge en France

Abstract

Food diversification in infants and children is associated with major changes in both macronutrient and micronutrient intake. During this nutritional transition period, it is essential to continue to meet their nutritional needs for maintaining health and reducing morbidity. It has long been known that breast milk, when associated with an adequate intake of non-dairy food, is the ideal milk for meeting this objective. Clearly, all mothers do not want or cannot carry on breastfeeding throughout this period of diversification, and bottle-feeding has to be used. There is very little information on how a nutritionally adequate diet should be formulated in this situation. A recent French study provides new data however. It shows that a diet based on cow's milk is likely, in a high percentage of infants and young children, to give rise to an insufficient intake of essential fatty acids, iron, vitamin C and vitamin D. The use of supplemented formulas as a substitute for cow's milk avoids these nutritional risks, with the exception of vitamin D. It appears therefore appropriate during the period of food diversification to recommend the use of infant formula for infants less than 6-months-old, follow-on formula from 6 to 12 months, and fortified toddler milk from 12 to 36 months.