Influence of infant feeding practices on childhood dietary patterns in Upstate KIDS.

backgroundEarlier feeding practices may influence dietary preference. We evaluated if age of introduction to select complementary foods shape intake and diet quality as measured by the Youth Healthy Eating Index (YHEI) in childhood.

methodsParents from the Upstate KIDS cohort reported complementary food introduction of 4-12-month-old infants on food questionnaires. Children with information on infant feeding and diet at 30-36 m (n = 2826) and 7-9 years of age (n = 1449) were included. Associations of age of complementary food introduction with intake in childhood were modeled with Poisson regression and diet quality score with linear models, adjusting for sociodemographic factors.

resultsApproximately 84 % (n = 2383) of mothers were non-Hispanic White and about 19 % (n = 526) of children were twins. At 30-36 months, compared to introducing fruits and vegetables between 5 and 8 months, introducing later was associated with 13 % lower daily intake of fruits and vegetables (aRR, 0.87; 95 %CI: 0.79, 0.95); while dairy and grains were associated with a 10 % and 17 % lower intake, respectively. Later introduction of protein was associated with 6 % (aRR, 0.94; 95 %CI: 0.90, 0.98) lower intake. For diet quality, introducing fruits and vegetables later (adjusted B: -4.01; 95 %CI: -7.42, -0.60) was associated with lower diet quality relative to 5-8 m. Later (adjusted B: -1.98; 95 %CI: -3.21, -0.74) introduction to dairy was associated with lower diet quality.

conclusionTiming of select complementary foods was associated with lower subsequent intake and lower diet quality in childhood. Further research is needed to evaluate feeding practices that may affect food preferences during infancy as a way to impact healthy dietary patterns and diet quality.