Baby food pouch feeding method examined in first foods study in NZ

Baby food pouches are becoming increasingly popular by caregivers as baby’s first food due to their convenience but some have questioned if this method can lead to overfeeding, while others are concerned if babies fed using another new method, baby-led weaning, are at risk of underfeeding.

Thankfully, now a University of Otago-led study has found these two popular, but somewhat controversial, methods appear to have little significant impact on infants’ appetite and weight.

Lead author Alice Cox, PhD candidate in the Department of Medicine, analysed the diets of 625 seven- to 10-month-old babies, evaluating appetite-related outcomes of baby food pouch vs baby-led weaning.

“Although the food itself is similar to the food in baby food jars and cans, the pouches have a nozzle so babies can eat directly from the pouch instead of being fed by someone using a spoon.

“Some health professionals are concerned that using baby food pouches might lead to overfeeding or might change the way that eating behaviour develops — however, so far these concerns seem to be based on opinion and not scientific evidence,” she said.

The researchers found 28% of babies were using baby food pouches daily or almost daily. Those who were having pouches frequently were more likely to eat when offered food even if they weren’t hungry. However, those who did consume pouches frequently didn’t eat more food overall than those who didn’t have them as often.

“Despite making up about 70% of the infant foods available commercially, baby food pouches seem to make up a relatively small proportion of food intake for babies in New Zealand,” Cox said.

Baby-led weaning is another feeding method which has become popular in recent years.

“One of the key features of baby-led weaning is that infants feed themselves age-appropriate ‘finger foods’, like cooked carrot sticks, from as soon as they have their first solid foods.

“Advocates say this may lower the risk of overfeeding and lead to healthier eating behaviours. On the other hand, some parents and health professionals worry about things like whether young infants are able to feed themselves enough food if they are not spoonfed.”

The researchers found infants following a baby-led approach in New Zealand are growing as well as those who are spoonfed and are no more likely to be over- or underweight.

At about six months of age, 13% of the babies in the study were mostly or always feeding themselves. When they were a couple of months older, this increased to about 25%.

Babies who followed baby-led weaning seemed to be able to eat to their appetite better than babies who were spoonfed. They also got slightly more energy from foods than babies who were spoonfed, but not enough to affect their weight.

“We were actually surprised to learn that babies who followed baby-led weaning ate a little bit more than babies who were spoonfed. This may have been due to the differences in the types of foods that they were offered, and we’re looking at this now.”

Cox hopes the findings will be useful for developing guidelines for health professionals and whānau when they’re deciding how best to feed their baby.

“It is important that babies are given the best possible start — working out what might be best nutritionally is an important part of this.”

The study, published in Appetite, is part of the First Foods New Zealand study conducted at Otago and Massey universities, and was funded by the Health Research Council.

Image credit: iStock.com/AnnaNahabed