Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Jul-Aug;99(4):371-378.
doi: 10.1016/j.jped.2023.01.006. Epub 2023 Mar 13.

Can the complementary feeding method be a strategy to reduce the offer of ultra-processed foods?

Jordana Führ  1 , Leandro Meirelles Nunes  2 , Paula Ruffoni Moreira  3 , Cátia Regina Ficagna  4 , Renata Oliveira Neves  1 , Juliana Rombaldi Bernardi  5
Affiliations

Can the complementary feeding method be a strategy to reduce the offer of ultra-processed foods?

Jordana Führ et al. J Pediatr (Rio J). 2023 Jul-Aug.

Abstract

Objective: To verify the prevalence of the offer of ultra-processed foods (UPFs), and to analyze their associated factors in the child's first year of life.

Methods: Cross-sectional study with 119 mother-infant pairs. At 5.5 months of the child, the mothers received guidance on complementary feeding (CF) according to three methods: Parent-Led Weaning (PLW), Baby-Led Introduction to SolidS (BLISS), or mixed (a combination of PLW and BLISS). At nine and 12 months, the mothers answered a questionnaire about the offer of UPFs. The NOVA classification, which classifies foods according to the nature, extent, and purposes of the industrial processes to which they are subjected, was used to list the UPFs. Descriptive statistics and multivariate Poisson regression, following a multilevel hierarchical model according to the proximity to the outcome, were used to estimate the association between dependent and independent variables.

Results: The prevalence of UPF consumption was 63% (n = 75) in the first year of life. Receiving guidance on healthy CF in the BLISS method showed to be a protective factor for offering UPFs (RR 0.72; CI95 0.52-0.99). Attending less than six prenatal consultations was a risk factor for the UPFs provision (RR 1.39; CI95 1.07-1.80).

Conclusion: The prevalence of UPFs offered in the first year of life in this study can be considered high, and future interventions aimed at avoiding UPFs offered in this population should consider the CF method.

Keywords: Baby-Led Weaning; Child nutrition; Complementary feeding; Infant; Processed foods.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of interest None.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Hierarchical model proposed to assess factors associated with the consumption of ultra-processed foods by infants in Porto Alegre and the metropolitan area, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, 2021. Source: Adapted from LOPES et al, 2020. BMI: Body mass index; EBF: exclusive breastfeeding; BF: breastfeeding.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Percentage of offer of UPFs to infants in Porto Alegre and the metropolitan area, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, 2021.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Zong X, Wu H, Zhao M, Magnussen CG, Xi B. Global prevalence of WHO infant feeding practices in 57 LMICs in 2010–2018 and time trends since 2000 for 44 LMICs. EClinicalMedicine. 2021;37 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Infant and young child feeding. World Health Assembly; 2018.p. 1–3.
    1. Ford ND, Behrman JR, Hoddinott JF, Maluccio JA, Martorell R, Ramirez-Zea M, et al. Exposure to improved nutrition from conception to age 2 years and adult cardiometabolic disease risk: a modelling study. Lancet Glob Health. 2018;6:e875–e884. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Brasil, Ministério da Saúde do Brasil. Food guide for Brazilian children under two years old, 2019.
    1. Daniels L, Heath AL, Williams SM, Cameron SL, Fleming EA, Taylor BJ, et al. Baby-Led Introduction to SolidS (BLISS) study: a randomised controlled trial of a baby-led approach to complementary feeding. BMC Pediatr. 2015;15:179. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types