Baby Food Pouches, Baby-Led Weaning, and Iron Status in New Zealand Infants: An Observational Study.
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Date
2024-05-15
Open Access Location
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
MDPI (Basel, Switzerland)
Rights
(c) 2024 The Author/s
CC BY 4.0
CC BY 4.0
Abstract
Iron deficiency in infants can impact development, and there are concerns that the use of baby food pouches and baby-led weaning may impair iron status. First Foods New Zealand (FFNZ) was an observational study of 625 New Zealand infants aged 6.9 to 10.1 months. Feeding methods were defined based on parental reports of infant feeding at "around 6 months of age": "frequent" baby food pouch use (five+ times per week) and "full baby-led weaning" (the infant primarily self-feeds). Iron status was assessed using a venepuncture blood sample. The estimated prevalence of suboptimal iron status was 23%, but neither feeding method significantly predicted body iron concentrations nor the odds of iron sufficiency after controlling for potential confounding factors including infant formula intake. Adjusted ORs for iron sufficiency were 1.50 (95% CI: 0.67-3.39) for frequent pouch users compared to non-pouch users and 0.91 (95% CI: 0.45-1.87) for baby-led weaning compared to traditional spoon-feeding. Contrary to concerns, there was no evidence that baby food pouch use or baby-led weaning, as currently practiced in New Zealand, were associated with poorer iron status in this age group. However, notable levels of suboptimal iron status, regardless of the feeding method, emphasise the ongoing need for paying attention to infant iron nutrition.
Description
Keywords
New Zealand, baby food pouches, baby-led weaning, complementary feeding, infants, iron status, Humans, New Zealand, Infant, Weaning, Female, Male, Iron, Nutritional Status, Infant Nutritional Physiological Phenomena, Infant Food, Anemia, Iron-Deficiency, Iron Deficiencies
Citation
McLean NH, Haszard JJ, Daniels L, Taylor RW, Wheeler BJ, Conlon CA, Beck KL, von Hurst PR, Te Morenga LA, McArthur J, Paul R, Katiforis I, Brown KJ, Gash MC, Rowan MM, Casale M, Cox AM, Jones EA, Jupiterwala RM, Bruckner B, Fleming L, Heath A-LM. (2024). Baby Food Pouches, Baby-Led Weaning, and Iron Status in New Zealand Infants: An Observational Study.. Nutrients. 16. 10. (pp. 1494-).