Common kitchen items might impact babies’ growth new study finds

One timeless parenting method during mealtimes has been sitting alongside their tots spooning food into their children’s mouths before weaning them to use their own utensils and discouraging messy eating. However, a new study has revealed that baby-led weaning when introducing solid food could be better for their growth by allowing the children to hand-feed themselves without the kitchen utensils in the way.

The method emphasises hand-feeding over spoon-feeding toddlers with advocates claiming it promotes healthy eating habits as the children are more free to explore the family’s meals on their own terms. While this method is not entirely new, there have been concerns in the past that the toddler wouldn’t be getting enough calories to support their growth needs.

However, registered dietician and study author Kinzie Matzeller, noted that the findings revealed the opposite as she shared, according to the Daily Mail: “It is reassuring to know that baby-led weaning provides adequate calories for growth. Baby-led weaning can be a great way to incorporate more options and different types of foods your little one may not get otherwise. It often takes up to 15 exposures to a food before a baby accepts it, so persistence is key.”

The research, from the University of Colorado and presented at the American Society for Nutrition conference in Chicago, followed 70 healthy five-month-old infants during their baby-led weaning journey with caregivers recording three days of the baby’s intake from all foods.

To qualify as a baby-led journey, the tots had to get less than 10% of their calories from pureed baby foods. The analysis revealed there was no significant difference in energy intake between baby-led weaning and the traditional spooning method.

However, baby-led weaning was linked to a greater increase in weight-for-age and weight-for-length score, giving the children higher growth trajectories. For parents who want to try this method for themselves, the research team recommended soft fruits, steamed vegetables, cheese and small pieces of meat as these items are easy for babies to grasp and chew.

A varied diet was also encouraged and they noted that the items should be offered as sticks around the size of the child’s fist to prevent choking. An unexpected finding was mothers with more education and higher incomes were more likely to use the baby-led weaning method, with the study noting that this could be because families that are more well-off may have more time and resources needed to follow the method.

The team’s future ambitions in this research topic will examine the potential nutritional differences between the weaning methods.