Feeding infants and toddlers study: what foods are infants and toddlers eating?

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Abstract

Objective

To describe the food consumption patterns of US infants and toddlers, 4 to 24 months of age.

Design

Descriptive analysis of data collected in the 2002 Feeding Infants and Toddlers study based on telephone interviews and 24-hour dietary recalls.

Subjects

A national random sample of 3,022 infants and toddlers age 4 to 24 months.

Statistical analyses performed

The percentage of infants and toddlers consuming foods from specific food groups was estimated for six age groups, using a single 24-hour recall.

Results

Infants as young as 7 months of age showed food patterns that have been observed in older children and adults. From 18% to 33% of infants and toddlers between ages 7 and 24 months consumed no discrete servings of vegetables, and 23% to 33% consumed no fruits. French fries were one of the three most common vegetables consumed by infants 9 to 11 months of age. By 15 to 18 months, french fries were the most common vegetable. Almost half (46%) of 7- to 8-month-olds consumed some type of dessert, sweet, or sweetened beverage, and this percentage increased as age increased. By 19 to 24 months, 62% of toddlers consumed a baked dessert, 20% consumed candy, and 44% consumed a sweetened beverage.

Applications

Parents and caregivers should be encouraged to offer a wide variety of vegetables and fruits daily, with emphasis on dark green, leafy, and deep yellow vegetables and colorful fruits. They should offer desserts, sweets, sweetened beverages, and salty snacks only occasionally, offering nutrient-dense, age-appropriate foods as alternatives (eg, fruit, cheese, yogurt, and cereals). Water, milk, and 100% fruit juices should be offered as alternative beverages. Because family food choices influence what foods are offered to children, family-based approaches to developing healthy eating habits may be helpful.

Section snippets

Methods

The FITS includes a stratified random sample of 3,022 infants and toddlers between 4 and 24 months of age. Parents or primary caregivers of sampled infants and toddlers completed a single 24-hour dietary recall. Recalls were collected between March and July 2002, using the Nutrition Data System for Research (NDS-R; version 4.03, 2001, University of Minnesota Nutrition Coordinating Center, Minneapolis, MN). Although a second 24-hour recall was obtained for a subsample of the population to allow

Breast milk, formula, and cow’s milk

Virtually all infants and toddlers younger than 15 months consumed some form of milk in a day (Table 2). Forty percent of 4- to 6-month-old infants consumed at least some breast milk. This percentage dropped precipitously between 4 to 6 months and 7 to 8 months and continued to decline through 15 to 24 months, when only 4% to 5% of toddlers consumed any breast milk. [Breastfeeding rates, duration, and patterns are discussed in detail elsewhere (18)].

Infant formula was the most common source of

Discussion

Much of the published research on food consumption patterns of infants and toddlers has focused on breastfeeding, the use of cow’s milk, and/or the timing of the introduction of solid foods 19, 20, 21. The 1994 to 1996, 1998 CSFII included infants and toddlers; however, published tables report data only for broad age ranges (<1 year, 1 year, and 2 years) and exclude breastfed infants and toddlers 16, 17. The FITS data provide a more comprehensive picture of food consumption habits of infants

Applications

  • • Dietary guidance provided to parents and caregivers should stress the importance of meeting the special nutritional needs of infants and toddlers and the potential impacts of early food preferences and eating habits over the long term. Because family food choices influence what foods are offered to children, family-based approaches to developing healthy eating habits may be helpful.

  • • The FITS data suggest that dietetics professionals consider the following points when providing guidance for

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