ArticleBMC microbiology2020
Timing of complementary feeding is associated with gut microbiota diversity and composition and short chain fatty acid concentrations over the first year of life.
Article in BMC microbiology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 72 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
72 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 144 citations in OpenAlex.
- Breastfeeding Affects Concentration of Faecal Short Chain Fatty Acids During the First Year of Life: Results of the Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Frontiers in nutrition · 2022Pooled it
- Diet, adiposity, and the gut microbiota from infancy to adolescence: A systematic review.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2021Pooled it
- Associations between maternal obesity and offspring gut microbiome in the first year of life.Pediatric obesity · 2022Trial
- Colonisation of the colonic mucus gel layer with butyrogenic and hydrogenotropic bacteria in health and ulcerative colitis.Scientific reports · 2021Trial
- Navigating Solid Food Introduction: A Qualitative Exploration of Caregivers' Beliefs, Readiness, and Influences on Infant Feeding Practices.Journal of pediatrics. Clinical practice · 2026Article
- Timing of complementary food introduction is not associated with inflammatory bowel disease risk: A prospective birth cohort study.Inflammatory bowel diseases · 2026Article
- New Insights into the Composition of the Early-Life Gut Microbiome: A Metagenomic Analysis of Fecal Samples in Children Up to 18 Months of Age.Pediatric gastroenterology, hepatology & nutrition · 2026Article
- Changes in bacterial and metabolic profiles in breastfed infants during dietary transition to solids.Pediatric research · 2026Article
- Maternal and infant gut microbiome.iMeta · 2026Review
- Temporal dynamics and functional maturation of the infant gut microbiota during the first year of life.BMC microbiology · 2026Article
- Childhood obesity, dietary patterns and gut microbiota: a narrative review.Journal of physiology and biochemistry · 2026Review
- The First 1000 Days of PKU: A Narrative Review of Maternal PKU and Early Life Management After Positive Newborn Screening.Nutrients · 2026Review
- Breastfeeding factors and gut microbiota dynamics in infants during the first year: a Beijing cohort study.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Article
- The role of the gut microbiota during the first 2 years of life in the early programming of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and hypertension.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Review
- Programming the Infant Gut: How Maternal and Early Life Nutrition Shape the Infant Microbiome and Long-term Health-A Narrative Review.Molecular nutrition & food research · 2026Review
- Infant gut microbiome reprogramming following introduction of solid foods (weaning).Gut microbes · 2025Review
- Grape Skin Polysaccharides Alleviate Type 2 Diabetic Rats via Gut Microbiota and Nontargeted Metabolism Alterations.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Early life gut microbiome and its impact on childhood health and chronic conditions.Gut microbes · 2025Review
- In Vitro Probiotic Modulation of Specific Dietary Complex Sugar Consumption in Fecal Cultures in Infants.Microorganisms · 2025Article
- The Infant Oral Microbiome: Developmental Dynamics, Modulating Factors, and Implications for Oral and Systemic Health.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
12 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundEarly introduction of complementary foods has been associated with various immune disorders, oxidative stress, and obesity in childhood. The gut microbiota and the short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) they produce are postulated to be on the causal pathway. The objective of this study was to determine if early complementary feeding (i.e. consumption of solids or non-water/formula liquids at or before 3 months) is prospectively associated with infant gut microbiota composition, diversity and SCFAs at 3 and 12 months of age in the Nurture birth cohort.
resultsMother-infant dyads in the early complementary feeding group (n = 18) had similar baseline characteristics to those in the later feeding group (n = 49). We assessed differential abundance of microbial taxa (measured by 16S rRNA gene sequencing of the V4 region) by timing of complementary feeding using beta-binomial regression models (considering a two-sided FDR corrected p-value of < 0.05 as significant), and we fittted linear regression models to assess the association between early complementary feeding and SCFA concentrations (quantified using gas chromatography). After multivariable adjustment for breastfeeding, delivery method, birth weight, and gestational age, there were 13 differentially abundant microbial amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) by timing of introduction to complementary foods at 3 months and 20 ASVs at 12 months. Infants introduced to complementary foods early (vs. later) had higher concentrations of the SCFA butyric acid (mean difference = 0.65, 95% CI: 0.27, 1.04, p < 0.01) and total SCFAs (mean difference = 38.8, 95% CI: 7.83, 69.7) at 12 months. Bilophila wadsworthia and Lachnospiraceae Roseburia were associated with early (vs. later) complementary feeding and with higher butyric acid concentrations at 3 and 12 months, respectively.
conclusionsOur findings are consistent with the hypothesis that early (vs. later) introduction to complementary foods is associated with altered gut microbiota composition and butyric acid concentrations measured in stool until at least 1 year of age. Further research is needed to determine if these changes mediate future development of metabolic and immune conditions.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.