According to MedPageToday, Pediatrics recently conducted their "largest prospective study" on infant feeding practices. The "Infant Feeding Practices Study II", which used a monthly 7-day food frequency questionnaire, found that amongst 1,334 mothers interviewed from 2005-2007, 40.4 percent of them introduced infants to solid foods prior to the recommended 4 months of age.
That's a 29 percent increase from previous studies.
Heather B. Clayton, PhD, of the CDC in Atlanta along with the other authors of the report, found the mean average of solid food integration began at 11.8 weeks of age, with some women starting as soon as 4 weeks of age.
The types of foods include peanut butter, nuts, vegetables, fruits, dairy products such as yogurt and cereals to name a few.
Authors of the study warned that early introduction to solid foods could later lead to chronic diseases such as diabetes, obesity and eczema and they pointed out a few contributing causes to this recent influx in solid food introduction.
The study showed that more than half of the interviewees cited a doctor's advice for beginning the solid food regimen. Healthcare providers can also be blamed as they tend to rely on "their own feeding experience rather than evidence based guidelines..." Other reasons for solid food introduction range from "My baby was old enough (88.9%)" to "My baby wanted the food I ate (66.8%)".
Clayton and her colleagues also say that the mass amount of information available to mothers may be causing this confusion.
"With multiple sources of information on feeding and care from healthcare providers, family, friends and media...information on the timing of solid food introduction may be conflicting," the study states.
However, the number of moms feeding babies solid foods too soon may actually be higher than the 40.4 percent found in the Pediatrics study. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the recommended age for solid food introdduction is 6 months. With that factored in to the Pediatrics.org study, the number of early introducers jumps to a staggering 92.9 percent.
While the recent study has shed light on a troubling problem, it does not factor in some key demographics such as moms in lower socioeconomic settings.
"It is reasonable to think that our sample may underestimate the prevalence of early solid food introduction," the authors wrote.
What do you think of this new study? When do you think babies should be introduced to solid foods?
