Delaying the introduction of complementary food until 6 months does not affect appetite or mother's report of food acceptance of breast-fed infants from 6 to 12 months in a low income, Honduran population.

ABSTRACT

PIP: Low-income primiparous mothers who had breast fed exclusively for 4 months were randomly assigned to one of three groups: 1) continued exclusive breast feeding (EBF) to 6 months; 2) introduction of complementary foods at 4 months with ad libitum nursing 4-6 months (SF); and 3) introduction of complementary foods at 4 months with maintenance of baseline nursing frequency 4-6 months (SF-M). After the intervention phase (4-6 months; n = 141), home visits were conducted for a subsample at 9 (n = 60) and 12 (n = 123) months. At each visit, an observer recorded infant food intake at the midday meal and interviewed the mother regarding usual feeding patterns and the infant's acceptance of 20 common food items. All but two infants (1.5%) were breast fed to 9 months and all but eight (6%) to 12 months. There were no significant differences among groups in breast-feeding frequency, amount or number of foods consumed at the midday meal, percentage of food offered that was consumed, usual daily number of meals and snacks, number of food groups consumed, or overall food acceptance score. Frequency of consumption of foods from eight different food groups (dairy, meats, eggs, grains, beans, fruits, vegetables, tubers) was not significantly different among groups except that, at 9 months only, the SF group (but not the SF-M group) consumed more vegetables than did the EBF group. The SF groups initially accepted carrots more readily than did the other two groups (p .05), and the SF and SF-M groups initially accepted potato more readily than did the EBF group (p .05). The average number of food groups from which foods were consumed at least twice per week was significantly higher in the SF group (but not the Sf-M group) than in EBF group at 9 months, but not at 12 months. Delaying the introduction of complementary foods until 6 months does not adversely affect appetite or food acceptance among breast-fed infants.