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ABSTRACT
Advice about the age for introducing complementary food to infants varies across European countries. Little is known about the actual practice of complementary feeding (CF) in the face of different advice from health professionals within Europe, nor about the impact of different ages of onset of CF on infant food acceptance. This longitudinal study aimed to explore CF in two European communities, British and Italian and to investigate whether infant age of CF influenced infant food acceptance. Forty-six mothers were interviewed before the onset of CF (Visit 1), one week after CF (Visit 2), and at 7 months of infant age (Visit 3), and infant mealtimes were video-recorded at Visits 2 and 3. CF occurred in both groups at a similar range of ages. CF age did not affect infant food acceptance at either Visit. Advice on CF should be based on cultural and individual differences.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank all the mothers and the infants who took part in the study.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes on contributors
Dr Cristina Costantini is a Lecturer in Psychology at Oxford Brookes University, UK. She has completed her PhD on infant feeding and the mother–infant relationship during complementary feeding at the University of Portsmouth, UK. Previously, Dr Costantini graduated with summa cum laude from La Sapienza University of Rome, Italy, where she was trained as a clinical child psychologist. In the past decade, she has worked with children with and without disabilities in multiple settings and different countries, such as South Africa, Poland, Ireland, Italy, and the UK. This has provided her with a better insight into different realities and problems in childhood. Her research interests concern infant feeding and eating behaviours in typical and atypical developing children.
Dr Gillian Harris has carried out research into infant and child feeding behaviour and appetite regulation at the University of Birmingham, School of Psychology for the past 30 years. She was also a Consultant Paediatric Clinical Psychologist for 27 years, and leads a feeding clinic at The Children's Hospital, Birmingham, where she worked with infants and children who were food averse. Her specific research and clinical interest is the development of food acceptance and rejection in early infancy and early childhood, and the effect of early experience on later food preferences. She has written around 100 published papers, articles, and book chapters on these areas, and been awarded multiple research grants to support her research.
Vasudevi Reddy is a Professor of Developmental Psychology at the University of Portsmouth, UK. Her book How Infants Know Minds reveals her interest in engagement and early social understanding. Her research, often cross-cultural, focuses on early development, both typical and atypical.
Dr Lucy Akehurst is a Principal Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Portsmouth, UK, and a member of the International Centre for Research in Forensic Psychology. Her research interests focus on optimising the investigative interview and courtroom settings for vulnerable witnesses, including children, in an attempt to elicit reliable evidence in criminal proceedings.
Dr Alessandra Fasulo is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Portsmouth UK, and member of the Centre for Research on Situated Action and Communication. Her research interests focus on social interaction of children with typical and atypical development.