Timing of Introduction to Solid Food, Growth, and Nutrition Risk in Later Childhood Academic Article uri icon

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abstract

  • Objective

    To evaluate the relationship between the timing of infant cereal introduction between 4 and 6 months of age and growth and dietary intake in later childhood.

    Study design

    A longitudinal cohort study was conducted among healthy children 0-10 years of age participating in The Applied Research Group for Kids cohort study between June 2008 and August 2019 in Toronto, Canada.

    Results

    Of 8943 children included, the mean (SD) age of infant cereal introduction was 5.7 (2.1) months. In the primary analysis, children who were introduced to infant cereal at 4 vs 6 months had 0.17 greater body mass index z score (95% CI 0.06-0.28; P = .002) and greater odds of obesity (OR 1.82; 95% CI 1.18-2.80; P = .006) at 10 years of age. In the secondary analysis, children who were introduced to infant cereal at 4 vs 6 months had 0.09 greater height-for-age z score (95% CI 0.04-0.15; P = .002) at 1 year of age, an association that was not observed at 5 or 10 years of age. Children who were introduced to infant cereal at 4 vs 6 months had greater nutrition risk which was primarily determined by a less-favorable eating behavior score at 18 months to 5 years of age (0.18 units higher; 95% CI 0.07-0.29; P = .001).

    Conclusions

    Introduction of infant cereal at 4 vs 6 months was associated with greater body mass index z score, greater odds of obesity, similar height-for-age z score, and less favorable eating behavior. These findings support recommendations for introducing solid food around 6 months of age.

authors

  • D'Hollander, Curtis J
  • Keown-Stoneman, Charles DG
  • Birken, Catherine S
  • O'Connor, Deborah L
  • Maguire, Jonathon L
  • Cohn, Ronald
  • Lau, Eddy
  • Laupacis, Andreas
  • Parkin, Patricia C
  • Salter, Michael
  • Szatmari, Peter
  • Weir, Shannon
  • Anderson, Laura
  • Borkhoff, Cornelia M
  • Kowal, Christine
  • Mason, Dalah
  • Abdurrahman, Murtala
  • Anderson, Kelly
  • Arbess, Gordon
  • Baker, Jillian
  • Barozzino, Tony
  • Bergeron, Sylvie
  • Bhagat, Dimple
  • Bloch, Gary
  • Bonifacio, Joey
  • Bowry, Ashna
  • Calpin, Caroline
  • Campbell, Douglas
  • Cheema, Sohail
  • Cheng, Elaine
  • Chisamore, Brian
  • Constantin, Evelyn
  • Danayan, Karoon
  • Das, Paul
  • Derocher, Mary Beth
  • Do, Anh
  • Doukas, Kathleen
  • Egger, Anne
  • Farber, Allison
  • Freedman, Amy
  • Freeman, Sloane
  • Gazeley, Sharon
  • Guiang, Charlie
  • Ha, Dan
  • Handford, Curtis
  • Hanson, Laura
  • Harrington, Leah
  • Jacobson, Sheila
  • Jagiello, Lukasz
  • Jansz, Gwen
  • Kadar, Paul
  • Kim, Florence
  • Kiran, Tara
  • Knowles, Holly
  • Kwok, Bruce
  • Lakhoo, Sheila
  • Lam-Antoniades, Margarita
  • Lau, Eddy
  • Leduc, Denis
  • Leung, Fok-Han
  • Li, Alan
  • Li, Patricia
  • Malach, Jessica
  • Male, Roy
  • Mascoll, Vashti
  • Meret, Aleks
  • Mok, Elise
  • Moodie, Rosemary
  • Nader, Maya
  • Nash, Katherine
  • Naymark, Sharon
  • Owen, James
  • Peer, Michael
  • Pena, Kifi
  • Perlmutar, Marty
  • Persaud, Navindra
  • Pinto, Andrew
  • Porepa, Michelle
  • Qi, Vikky
  • Ramji, Nasreen
  • Ramji, Noor
  • Raza, Danyaal
  • Rosenthal, Alana
  • Rouleau, Katherine
  • Ruderman, Caroline
  • Saunderson, Janet
  • Schiralli, Vanna
  • Sgro, Michael
  • Shuja, Hafiz
  • Shepherd, Susan
  • Smiltnieks, Barbara
  • Srikanthan, Cinntha
  • Taylor, Carolyn
  • Treherne, Stephen
  • Turner, Suzanne
  • Uddin, Fatima
  • van den Heuvel, Meta
  • Vaughan, Joanne
  • Weisdorf, Thea
  • Wijayasinghe, Sheila
  • Wong, Peter
  • Yaremko, John
  • Ying, Ethel
  • Young, Elizabeth
  • Zajdman, Michael
  • Bazeghi, Farnaz
  • Bouchard, Vincent
  • Bustos, Marivic
  • Camacho, Charmaine
  • Dalwadi, Dharma
  • Koroshegyi, Christine
  • Malhi, Tarandeep
  • Thadani, Sharon
  • Thompson, Julia
  • Thompson, Laurie
  • Aglipay, Mary
  • Bayoumi, Imaan
  • Carsley, Sarah
  • Cost, Katherine
  • Eny, Karen
  • Kim, Theresa
  • Kinlin, Laura
  • Omand, Jessica
  • Vanderhout, Shelley
  • Vanderloo, Leigh
  • Allen, Christopher
  • Boodhoo, Bryan
  • Chan, Olivia
  • Dai, David WH
  • Hall, Judith
  • Juni, Peter
  • Lebovic, Gerald
  • Pope, Karen
  • Thorpe, Kevin
  • Kandel, Rita
  • Rodrigues, Michelle
  • Vandenberghe, Hilde

publication date

  • January 2022