Young children weaned on healthy home-prepared food grow up to be leaner, compared to infants who are being fed commercial baby products, says a new research. The scientists from Britain found that children who eat fruits, vegetables and food cooked at home, have developed more muscle tissue at the age of 4 years, as opposed to their counterparts.

The conclusions are based on the study that assessed the diets of more than 500 infants with the ages between 6 and 12 months. Scientists from the University of Southampton used a food frequency questionnaire that was administered by trained research nurses to record the consumption of specific foods as well as the age at which they were introduced. The children were fed according to weaning guidelines, which recommend a high intake of fruit, vegetables, cooked meat and fish, and other cooked-at-home foods such as rice and pasta, but low consumption of commercial baby foods. In the current study, 'weaning' is defined as the period of transition in infancy between a diet based on milk feeding to a diet that is based on solid foods.

"Most studies linking infant feeding to later body composition focus on differences in milk feeding, but our study also considered the influence of the weaning diet," said Dr. Siân Robinson, PhD, of the MRC Epidemiology Resource Centre, University of Southampton in the United Kingdom and a main investigator of the study. The study revealed that, regardless of the duration of breastfeeding, kids with higher quality weaning diets that included fruits, vegetables, and foods cooked at home, had a greater lean mass at the age of 4 years.

The experts have also found a relationship between longer periods of breastfeeding and low levels of fat mass. The young participants' body composition was assessed at the age of 4 years using dual X-ray technique - absorptiometry - that revealed relative amounts of lean and fat tissue. Dr Robinson said that most studies that are linking infant feeding to later body composition concentrate on differences in milk feeding, but the current study also took into consideration the influence of the weaning diet.

According to Professor Cyrus Cooper, Director of the MRC Epidemiology Resource Center, the new findings are enlightening as this is the first time ever when an influence of qualitative differences in the weaning diet on childhood body composition has been considered and described.

The article "Variations in infant feeding practice are associated with body composition in childhood: a prospective cohort study," will be published in the August 2009 issue of Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).

Tags: Nutrition, Pediatrics, Recipes and Cooking

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